


Nothing Gold Can Stay

by thatsprettyneat



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Bara Sans, Big Sans, F/M, Frisk Is Dead, Humans declare war on them, Hurt/Comfort, Monsters are bigger than humans, Monsters are on the surface, My First Fanfic, No Smut, Other, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Reader-Insert, Sans and Reader are friends, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-08-11 07:21:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7881940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsprettyneat/pseuds/thatsprettyneat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is years after the Monsters have reached the surface. After a disastrous peace-rally where Ambassador Frisk is killed, humans declare war on Monster-kind. You are caught in the middle of it, stranded in a deserted town close to Monster territory. You and your family are struggling to survive, so you have no choice but to venture into the forest across enemy lines in search of food. Everything goes according to plan until you are caught by a large, grinning skeleton.<br/>Heavily inspired by breakofdawn's Desolation Song. Go give their fic a look! It's good!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Family

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter is just a bunch of exposition, but I would appreciate if you gave it a read and told me what you think! Sans and more exciting things in Chapter 2.

It was a cold day. Just like the day before, and the day before that. You would like to say you’ve gotten used to it, but then you would just be lying to yourself. So you pull your worn, goose-down vest more closely around you, and continue walking towards the house. The wind chose to pick up at that moment, sending the cold straight through you and your thin and flannel shirt. At least your feet are warm in your slightly-too-big combat boots and thank God for the mittens and hat Ruby knitted for you. Winter has arrived, but you count your lucky stars that it hasn’t snowed yet. 

It was hard to focus on the positive when the sack hanging from your shoulder was depressingly light. It made sure to remind you of that fact by hitting your side with every step you take. You are returning home after scavenging for food and supplies in the next town over. Just as you suspected, you and other scavengers had picked it clean long ago. You return with a measly can of corn and a few blankets. As if on cue, your stomach growls at you painfully. The long day’s journey has done nothing to help the perpetual feeling of hunger. 

Food had become scarcer ever since the beginning of the war. Ever since the Monsters emerged from Mt. Ebott. You were ten when they came out a few at a time, then in small groups, and then by the hundreds. The human world seemed at a loss for what to do. Monsters were no longer a thing of legend, but living breathing beings. The king – King Asgore, who appeared to be a massive goat-lion hybrid- told the people of the world that they only wished to live alongside humans as they had so long ago. The leaders of the world agreed to give Mt. Ebott to the Monster’s to live on. Humans and Monsters lived in an uncomfortable peace the first few months of their re-surfacing. But humans were uneasy. Monsters were much larger than people, and they had magic. Having these creatures walk the earth once again led to an unstable détente.  
The Monsters wound up settling on and around Mt. Ebott. The mountain is not far from your home town, a mere 50 miles or so. As a child, all you knew about monsters were the scary stories you read in books or saw in movies. You didn’t sleep for days after the news first reported the Monsters. Finally, you told your mother about your fear. 

“You’re scared of them? Now why is that?” your Mother asked as she continued tucking you into bed.

“Because…!” you paused, “Because they’re monsters!”

Your Mother looked down at you lovingly, “Well, that’s not fair, have you ever met a monster?”

“No, but…”

“How would you feel if someone was scared of you just because you’re human?”

“I… I guess I wouldn’t like that…” you confessed as your Mother gently stroked some of your hair out of your face. 

“Exactly. It’s normal to be scared of things we don’t understand, but you have to give them a chance to prove to you that they are more than they appear. You might be surprised by what you find.”

A smile crosses your face as you think back on that night and your mother. You pass by the first of the many abandoned and decaying houses on your way into town. Years ago, the army had ordered a hasty evacuation of the town after the Monster ambassador was killed at a peace rally. Poor thing, you remember being surprised that Ambassador Frisk was a kid not much older than yourself. Monsters say it was a human that attacked Frisk. Humans say it was a monster. Either way, fighting broke out in small skirmishes in towns around Mt. Ebott. King Asgore called for the fighting to cease, but it was too late. 

Humans declared war against monster-kind, determined to make the monsters return to their home under the mountain. The monsters, not wanting to return to their life underground, had no choice but to fight back, attempting to push monster territory further. This was what caused an evacuation of the Mt. Ebott area. That was eight years ago. Humans and Monsters had been fighting ever since. Monsters have managed to spread their territory to the foothills near your town. With monster territory so close, the military chose to keep its distance, leaving the area mostly deserted. Since then, the houses and buildings of the nearby towns have fallen into disrepair due to neglect. The only people left behind were the sick, elderly, or those still too young to travel. 

The area was placed under martial law, making the military the supreme law of the land. With the army in command, the needs of the citizens were put aside in the war against monsters. Your Father had long since been drafted into the army to “protect humankind from monsters”, leaving him no choice but to leave you and your sick mother behind. It wasn’t long before she succumbed to her illness, and you were left alone. With the town evacuated and no one to take care of you, you wandered aimlessly through the streets until you wound up at the park. That was when Ruby found you. The elderly woman found you crying on the swing set.

She had approached slowly, worried about scaring you. You were so lost in your grief that you didn’t notice her until she laid a hand on your shoulder. You gasped, pulling away from her hand. Ruby smiled warmly and sat down in the swing next to you. She spoke in a voice as sweet as honey.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I will not hurt you. Why are you out here all by yourself?”

You tried your best to answer her, but only broke down crying, your voice dissolving into sobs. That seemed to be enough of an answer for her.

“Shhh, shhh, it’s alright. My name is Ruby. You don’t have to be alone any longer. We can take care of each other.”

You continued to cry, unable to control yourself.

“Hey,” Ruby said, “Why did the crying girl suddenly laugh?”

You looked up at her, slightly confused by the change in conversation.

“Because she was on a mood swing.”

And for the first time in a long time, you cracked a smile.

You two have been together since that day, living in her old, Victorian style house. The first few years consisted of just you two scavenging and surviving. It took its toll on the already aged Ruby, and she soon became bedridden. At that point, you were just old enough to go out on your own, and you were determined to take care of Ruby, just like she had taken care of you. 

The dead grass crunches under your feet as you finally make your way back to that same Victorian house that has been your home all these years. As you open the gate in the white fence that surrounds the property, a small Asian girl leaps off the porch and runs over to you.

“You’re back! Emma, she’s finally back!” she yells back towards the house as she tackles you, wrapping her arms around your waist.

“OOF! Oh my gosh, Lizzie, you’re getting too big to do that to me! And I only left this morning,” you say as you bend down to hug her back. She lets go and runs back towards the house just as her twin sister walks through the front door and onto the porch. Emma is much more subdued than her sister, but she too comes down off the porch to give you a hug. 

“Hey there kiddo, did you and Lizzie have a good day?” you ask as you both make your way back into the house.

Emma huffs, “Yeah, but Shiloh wouldn’t play with us, said he’s not a kid anymore.”

You laugh and resist the urge to roll your eyes. 

“Well, he is a teenager now. And you and Lizzie have really grown up a lot, too.”

About four years ago, you found a dark-skinned boy carrying two toddlers on the edge of town. He had walked there from a village a little ways up in the mountains, saying their village had been destroyed by a battle between the army and monsters. The boy introduced himself as Shiloh, and could not have been older than nine or ten. The girls with him were Emma and Elizabeth. Shiloh was exhausted from the journey and all three of them were nothing but skin and bones. You led them back to Ruby’s house, and they have stayed with you ever since. You never asked Shiloh what happened to his or the twins’ families, and he didn’t say. 

After what felt like the longest walk you’ve ever taken, you finally make it into the house alongside Emma. You had done your best to keep the house in decent condition over the years. The floor boards creaked and the walls had some mice living in it, but it kept some of the cold out. Your breath was still visible even inside the house. You pull a blanket out of your bag and drape it over Emma’s shoulders. Emma smiles up at you, and then turns left and runs into the kitchen looking for Lizzie. Turning right from the door, you make your way into the living room. You fall face-first onto the couch, heaving a deep sigh of relief to finally be off your feet. 

“Long day, huh?”

You jump a little, thinking you were alone in the room. You look over to the chair in the corner. Shiloh is sitting there with a book in his lap, watching you with tired eyes.  
“Geez Shiloh, why are you hiding in the shadows? I didn’t see you there,” you huff, and roll over onto your back, laying your arm over your eyes.

“Is that a black joke?”

You answer him with a bark of laughter, but otherwise don’t move to look at him. You can feel the younger boy staring at you, and you brace yourself for the question that is coming.

“So… find anything?”

Your face pulls itself into a grimace under your arm. You peak over at him before sitting up on the couch. Glancing towards the kitchen, you make sure the twins are out of ear shot. You listen to them laughing and banging around in the other room before pulling your satchel over your head and off your shoulder. You open the bag and tilt it towards him so he can see the contents inside. It breaks your heart when you watch his face fall. 

“Is that it? A can of corn and some blankets?” His voice isn’t judgmental, only downtrodden. 

You sigh and bring the bag back to sit it on your lap. “I looked everywhere, but that town has been picked clean.” You start rubbing the back of your neck in contemplation. “I’ll have to start going out farther…” The thought alone makes your already-sore feet throb painfully. 

Shiloh’s gaze falls to his lap, where he is fiddling with his fingers. “You know, I could always go out scavenging too…”

“No.” The word left your mouth before he even finished speaking. Scavenging could be a dangerous business. Not only is there a constant threat of monsters trying to expand their territory, but there are also other scavengers to worry about. Other scavengers are desperate, and if they thought you had something they could use, they would not hesitate to hurt you, or worse. Shiloh was like a little brother to you, and if anything happened to him…

“And why not?! You were younger than I am now when you started to scavenge!” 

You are surprised by how angry Shiloh sounds, but you speak back to him in an equally as angry voice. “We’ve had this conversation before, I HAD to do that to keep Ruby alive! It’s dangerous for anyone that young. And I’m not going to lose any of you! Not if I can do anything about it.”

The sound of Emma and Lizzie playing in the other room disappears, and your anger quickly subsides as soon as you realize you just yelled at Shiloh. Both you and Shiloh sit in stunned silence for a moment. You feel awful for yelling at him. You quickly cross the room and sit on the arm of his chair, pulling him into a hug.  
“I’m so sorry, Shiloh. I didn’t mean to sound so angry, it’s just…”

You hear Shiloh’s voice break a little bit as he wraps his arms around you in return, “I know... I’m just worried. What are we gonna do?”

It had been a long time since any of you had had a decent meal. Even with your near-constant scavenging, food was scarce, and it was beginning to show on all of you. Everyone’s weight was dropping dangerously quickly, especially yours since you had to scavenge so much. You knew what the answer was: You all had to move to someplace with food. But moving was impossible with Ruby being bedridden and the twins only being six years old. There’s no way you all would make it very far, even with Shiloh’s help. However, there was still one option when it came to food…

The forest just outside of town must have lots of edible plants and animals. Even with winter coming, there has to be something to eat in there. The only problem is that it is technically Monster territory. Being caught by a monster could mean it is all over for you. Who knows what they would do to you? Would they just kill you on the spot for trespassing? Or would they take you as a prisoner? You shudder at the thought. But your mind was already made up. You have to go to the forest to find food, and you have to go soon. 

There is no way you are going to tell Shiloh that, though. Brave kid would either want to go with you, or try and stop you. 

“Don’t worry, I’m going to figure it all out. Now, why don’t you go heat up this corn for Emma and Lizzie while I go talk to Ruby?” You pull out the can of corn and press it into his hands. 

He gives you a skeptical look for a moment, but then sighs resignedly as he moves to stands up. “Okay, Mom.”

“Ew, don’t call me that! Besides, you’re almost as tall as me now!” You stand up with him, making sure to stand up as straight as possible to get the most height.

“What do you mean, almost as tall? I’m definitely as tall as you now!” And when he stands all the way up, you do notice that he’s looking you in the eye. He is definitely going to be taller than you soon, even though he is only fourteen and you are nineteen.

“Ok, ok. Go make yourself useful in the kitchen.” You usher Shiloh towards the kitchen. You can hear Emma and Lizzie once again playing in there after being interrupted by your argument with Shiloh. You leave him there and turn right to head up the stairs to the second floor. The second floor is where all of the bedrooms are. To try and conserve heat, you pulled all of the beds into the one room with the fire place. That is where you find will Ruby.

“Knock knock” you say quietly outside the ajar door, just in case she is sleeping. 

That familiar, honey-sweet voice comes from inside the room, “Who’s there?”

You smile, “Little old lady.”

There’s a pause. “Little old lady who?”

You laugh to yourself as you push past the door and into the room. “I didn’t know you could yodel!”

Just as you suspected, Ruby is in her usual spot on the bed nearest to the fireplace. She has shrunken in her old age, but she is the same feisty Ruby you have come to know and love. Her cotton white hair is held back out of her weathered face by a home-knit headband made by her, and her hands are busy already working on a new project. It looks like a sweater for one of the twins. Her smile lights up the whole room as you make your way over to the bed. “Oh, that’s a good one! Did you think of that yourself?”

“I sure did!” You proudly say as you plop yourself down on the bed and snuggle up to her side. “How was your day?”

“Just fine, I’m working on a pair of sweaters for the twins. Had to undo an old afghan to get the yarn, but I’d rather they have it! What did you find today, sweet pea?”  
You flinch, already forgetting about the disappointing trip you just returned from. 

“Um… Not much. I got some blankets and a can of corn. I gave that to the girls, which means…. I’m sorry, I don’t have anything for us today.” 

Ruby reaches an arm around your shoulders and offers you a reassuring smile. “That’s alright, honey, I would much rather they get to eat today.”

You try your best to return her smile, but end up deflating. “But it’s not alright, Ruby… You have to eat! We all have to eat! We can’t keep living like this…” You take her hand in both of yours and look her in the eyes. “You know what that means, right? You know what I have to do.”

Ruby’s usually sparkling eyes turn serious. “No, you can’t go into that forest.”

You huff an exasperated sigh and turn your whole body to face her. “But what are we supposed to do? It’s been a week since our food supply ran out. We can’t keep going day to day like this! When was the last time you ate anything?”

“When was the last time you actually rested?” Ruby shot back. 

Looking down, you can’t think of anything to say back to her. You have been running yourself ragged trying to keep your little family fed. But the more you think about it, the more determined you become. Ruby is like a second mother to you, and it pains you to go against anything she says. But you have to do this. You look back up to meet her eyes.  
“I’m not resting until everyone is fed today. That means me, Shiloh, AND you. It’s still mid-afternoon, I can go to forest, look around, and be back by sunset.” 

Ruby looks surprised. You two have never disagreed before, not in the slightest. But as she looks at you now, she sees how fiercely determined you are to make things right.  
Ruby sighs, but there is a smile playing at the edges of her mouth. “I like your gumption, kiddo. Alright, but I’m not letting you go without something with which to protect yourself.”

Confused, you watch as Ruby reaches over the side of the bed and pulls something out from beneath the mattress. As she brings her hand back up to rest on her lap, you see that it is a long, thin item wrapped in a white cloth. When she unwraps it, you finally get a good look at what appears to be an army-issue combat knife. 

You gasp, “Ruby! Where did you get that?”

She chuckles, “That’s not important. What is important is that you take this with you.”

You balk a little as she hands you the sheathed knife. “Ruby, I don’t know how to use this! Let alone use it against someone…”

“Then it may come in handy some other way. You never know when you might need it. And it will make me feel better knowing you have it.”

You sit for a moment, feeling the weight of the knife in your hands. You pull it out of the sheath and look at the blade. It’s huge! At least seven or eight inches long. And the camo paint job along the blade does nothing to hide how sharp it is. You carefully put the military-style knife back in the sheath and stick it in the bag still hanging from your shoulder. 

“Thank you, Ruby.” You lean in to give her a hug, lingering just a little bit longer than usual before hopping off the bed. “I’ll be back before you know it!”

“You better!” Ruby shouts after you. 

You make your way through the bedroom door and pause at the top of the stairs. Okay, you can do this, you have to do this. The forest is no different from a house, in and out, just like every other scavenge.

You quickly but quietly make your way down the stairs. You don’t want Shiloh or the girls asking where you are going. You make it to the bottom and stop to listen. It sounds like all three of them are still in kitchen, giggling amongst themselves. As stealthily as you can manage, you slip out the front door into the cold afternoon air.


	2. Caught

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You venture into the forest after an unsuccessful day of scavenging in hopes of finding food. Unfortunately, that forest is in Monster territory. Armed with a combat knife given to you by your oldest friend, Ruby, you make your way into the unknown.

Your enthusiasm from earlier quickly leaves you as you make it to the edge of the forest. In your anticipation, you had forgotten exactly how tired you are from the day’s scavenging trip. You also begin thinking about Monsters and what they would do to you if you were caught in the forest. Didn’t they have magic? Would you be able to fight off a monster? Would you even want to? But there is no time to be tired or scared, your family needs food, and the only way to get it is from this forest.

You pause at the edge of the trees. Has the forest always been this dark? Maybe it is just your imagination, or your nervousness to cross over into Monster territory. You remember the words your Mother spoke to you so long ago: “It’s normal to be scared of things we don’t understand… You might be surprised by what you find.” But what if you find exactly what you expect from a monster?

You shake your head free of any disparaging thoughts. What are the chances you would be caught? It is such a big forest, and do they even do patrols this close to human territory? You tell yourself no. With that last thought, you take your first step into the underbrush and underneath the canopy of trees. 

It has been a long time since you have been in this forest, back before the war. It is quieter than you remember, but that is probably because all the insects are dead and the birds have flown away for winter. The quiet makes you even more nervous, and sets all of your senses on high alert. The forest marks the edge of Monster territory as well as the beginning of the foothills. The whole area slowly slopes uphill until it meets the steep base of the mountains a few miles in the distance. There is a semblance of a path leading up hill, so you decide to follow that. The trees tower around you, making you feel small. 

‘Alright, stop sightseeing, you’re here for a reason’ you scold yourself. Your eyes drop to the forest floor, looking for mushrooms, small animals, anything. What you find is a lot of pine cones. You pick one up and are surprised to find that it’s about the size of your head. ‘Is this thing edible?’ you wonder as you stick one in your bag just in case. You begin to wonder exactly how qualified you are to find anything to eat in this forest.

From somewhere to the left far up ahead, you hear the snap of a twig ring out in the silence. Without thinking, you hit the ground, hiding among the underbrush. Your eyes are wide open looking for the source of the sound. Was it a monster? Did they see you? You aren’t even that far into Monster territory yet. You reach down into your bag and trace the outline of the knife-handle with your fingertips, ready to grab it at a moment’s notice. After some time just sitting and listening, you slowly stand up. ‘It was probably just one of these humungous pine cones dropping from a tree,’ you tell yourself, relaxing a little bit. Once you are satisfied that nothing is there, you start to make your way forward again.  
It is hard to tell where the sun is in the sky underneath all of the trees. You have an idea of what time it is because of the dropping temperature, or is that just because it is so dark in here? Up ahead you spot a break in the trees where dim sun light is making its way through the leaves of the canopy. You make your way towards that. As you finally make it to the light, you step into a clearing, and are amazed by what you see.

Hundreds of blackberry bushes lay before your eyes, all of them full of fruit. Your mouth falls open. Jackpot! In your half-starved state, you rush over to the nearest bush and begin picking off several berries. You pop a few into your mouth and almost groan at the taste. You eat several more handfuls before your stomach is satisfied and you finally get a hold of yourself. Okay, now it’s time to start packing these babies up for everyone else!

You can hardly contain your excitement as you begin to pluck the berries off the vines. You eventually ditch the pine cone to make room for more berries in your bag. You make your way from bush to bush, only taking the ripest berries you could find. It takes you an hour to finally fill your bag to bursting, and by then your hands are stained blue from the juice. Satisfied with your work, you look up at the sky to find that the sun is rapidly setting and the day’s light is disappearing.

‘Oops, I stayed too long. I hope they aren’t worried about me.’ You think to yourself as you secure the full bag over your shoulder. Now that you are not concentrating on picking berries, you get the sinking feeling that you are being watched. You shiver and curse yourself for letting your guard down. Slowly turning your head, you scan the tree line. After looking for some time, you don’t see anything watching you from the dark cover of the trees. You try to swallow the lump in your throat and shake off that uneasy feeling. You turn to leave when you realize you don’t remember which way you came from. ‘Oh no.’ you think to yourself as you begin to panic. You do not want to be lost out here in these woods, in Monster territory, after dark. 

‘Okay, calm down. All you have to do is go back downhill,’ you berate yourself. It is so simple. You really need to keep your head if you are ever going to get back to the house. You start your journey downhill through an unfamiliar stretch of forest. 

This part of the forest does not have a path, so you are forced to fight your way through the knee-high underbrush. It is tiring work, and it isn’t long before you lean up against a tree to rest. You set the heavy bag of blackberries on the ground next to you. How you wish you had some water. Your hands shake due to exertion and your heart is beating hard. Ruby was right, you need to rest. All this not-eating-and-running-around business was not good for your health. But you can’t think about that now, your family is waiting on you to come back with food. 

At that moment, the snap of a branch breaking rings out in the silence once again. You whirl around to face the direction of the uncomfortably-close noise. ‘Okay, that was definitely not a pinecone,’ you think. Are you being followed? You quickly grab your bag and whip around to start walking again. Before you make it three steps, you hear another crack of a branch. But this time it came from beneath your own feet. You freeze, but it’s not long before you are whooshed up into the air. You let out an involuntary scream as your vision blurs and your feet are lifted off the ground. Everything is spinning as you come to a swaying halt six feet above ground.

Dazed and confused, you try to move only to find you are trapped in a rope net. The ropes are strong and thick, and woven closely together in order to prevent you from getting out. Panicking, you look up to see a rope leading from your net to a tree branch far above you. ‘A trap?!’ you frantically think to yourself as you struggle to right yourself inside your rope prison. No. No no no no! This can’t be happening!

You were supposed to be in and out of this forest, just like any other scavenging trip. Monsters were never even going to know you were here. But now you’re hanging far off the ground in a stupid net! All packaged up and ready to go for whatever is stalking you to come and... ‘Stop it! You have to think!’ You stop struggling for just a moment to gain your composure. ‘C’mon, think… How do I get down… The knife! The knife Ruby gave me which is in my bag!’ You twist around, feeling for the trusty bag that is always at your side. You stop, not feeling it. Where? Where where??! Your panic begins to take over again as you spot your bag on the ground. You must have dropped it while being whooshed through the air. The bag is partially hidden in the underbrush, but you can see berries spilling out of it, and the handle of your knife peeking out. 

You reach downwards through the space between the ropes in the net, vainly hoping that you can reach the knife six feet below you. You reposition yourself so you can reach your arm as far out of the net as possible, but you are nowhere near grabbing the knife. It is when you are grasping that you begin to hear heavy footsteps. Heavy footsteps coming in your direction. You freeze where you are, as if holding still will lower the chances of whatever is coming from seeing you hanging from a tree. Your heart beat speeds up and your breath begins to quicken as you pull your arm back into the confines of the net. Something is coming for you, and whatever it is, it’s BIG. You are completely exposed in the net, and there is nothing you can do but wait as the footsteps come closer and closer. You begin to shake as all of your fears of coming into the forest become a reality. When you feel like your heart is about to burst from fright, the monster finally steps out from the shadows in front of you.

Standing before you in the fading light is a large, grinning skeleton. You have never seen a monster in person before, but you knew they came in a variety of different forms. The ones on TV had always seemed so big, you thought maybe it was a trick of the camera. But the monster standing before you is quite big, and even if you weren’t swinging in the air from a net and had your knife in hand, you did not think you would be able to fight him off. At least, you think it’s a he. He is wearing black cargo pants tucked into black combat boots, with a baggy blue coat with a fur-lined hood zipped all the way up. Baggy as the coat is, it can’t conceal his wide, barrel-chested torso. In his eye sockets are two bright, piercing dots of light. He almost looks bored as he looks you over with half lidded eyes and his hands tucked into the front pockets of his jacket. 

It seems like hours go by as you two stare at each other. You can’t help but stare at his wide, grinning mouth, his breath steaming out from behind his teeth in the still, cold air. Why did a skeleton need to breathe? You feel your heart beating hard and fast in your chest as you wait for him to make the first move. But he simply stands there, far outside of your reach, and your panicking mind wonders vaguely if that is on purpose. Does he think you are a threat? Why is he just staring at you? Why doesn’t he say anything?! It’s driving you crazy just waiting for him to finish you off! To do anything! Finally after what seems like an eternity, he speaks up.

“heh, looks like i caught ya blue-handed.”

You blink, taken aback. Was… was that a joke? Is this monster joking with you? All you manage to do is stare down at your berry-stained hands uncomprehendingly. In your daze, you don’t notice him stepping closer until he is right beside your net. You squeak and shrink away from him as far as the net will allow. He is even bigger up close! The skeleton is pushing seven feet tall, allowing him to easily reach you inside the net. You have seen pictures of a human skeleton in the books Ruby saved over the years. While he is definitely a skeleton, there are some distinct differences. His skull seems to be oddly round, and made up of all one piece of bone. The bone is strangely pliable, making it possible for him to have facial expressions. 

He chuckles in a deep baritone voice, and reaches his hand up to poke you in the ribs with one of his long, boney fingers. The simple gesture makes the net swing back and forth ever so slightly. You gasp at the unexpected contact and throw your hands out to grab the ropes of the net to steady yourself.

“geez, kid, yer nothing but skin and bones, heh. surprised you were heavy enough to set off my bro’s trap. don’t they feed you guys in the army?”

“A-army?” you manage to squeak out, confused by the monster’s casual manner. As laid-back as the skeleton is acting, you can’t help but feel like a toy being dangled in front of a cat. His half-lidded eyes portray disinterest, but the white pinpricks of light inside his eye sockets are watching you intently. 

“yeah, army. i assume yer a spy.”

You quickly shake your head. “N-no! No, I’m not a spy! I’m n-not with the army!” you stutter out, trying to convince the large skeleton. Somehow you feel that if he thinks you are part of the army, things won’t end well for you.

But he only laughs again. “relax doll face, I’m just yanking yer rope, heh.” He looks at you with that ever-present grin. “why are ya out here?”

Doll face? Did he just call you doll face? And what is with all the joking around? You are only becoming more and more confused each second. But you are still frightened of this monster, and still at his mercy while dangling in the net. You shake your head to clear it, and hurry to answer him. 

“I w-was looking for f-food… I was taking these b-black berries back home,” you explain, and gesture down to the bag on the forest floor. 

“ah, so yer a thief then?” he teases. 

“No! That’s not…” but he has turned his attention to the bag at his feet. He pokes at it with the toe of his boot, causing a few more black berries to roll out. It also causes the combat knife to fall out of the bag onto the forest floor. He suddenly goes rigid, and the white pinpricks of his eyes vanish inside his skull. Even though he isn’t looking directly at you, the combination of the dark, hallow eyes and his wide grin freezes you in place, scared speechless. Any semblance of the bored, joking skeleton that was just in front of you is gone as he slowly bends down to pick up the knife. 

“not in the army, huh?” he mutters like he’s talking to himself. He straightens back up to his full height and fixes you with that hallow stare. You feel a shiver go down your spine and hardly dare to breathe. Your eyes widen as he unsheathes the knife and holds it up to examine the blade. 

“this is pretty standard issue, kid. i should know, i’ve had plenty of human soldiers try to use it on yours truly.” He turns the blade over in his hand. “makes me think you were lyin’ before about not bein’ in the army.”

Frightened tears begin to form in your eyes as you slowly absorb his words. You can’t think clearly with him holding a knife and staring at you with those terrifyingly empty eyes. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you can hear your brain screaming at you to explain yourself, deny his accusations, anything!! But you only manage to whisper a few words.

“N-no, I’m not… I swear…” You don’t even sound convincing to yourself. 

He stares at you for a moment longer, then closes his eyes with a large sigh. When he returns his gaze to you, the white pinpricks of light are thankfully back in his eye sockets. But instead of bored, his eyes look oddly sad and remorseful.

“i tell ya kiddo… i was gonna just let ya go, but now… ya caught me in a real bind here.”

Without warning, he reaches up and slashes the rope supporting you and the net with the knife. You let out an involuntary yelp as you begin to fall, but it is short-lived. You come to a stop before you hit the ground. Disoriented by the sudden movement, you look up to see that the skeleton has caught the net in one hand. As if you weigh nothing, he slowly sets you down on the forest floor. The net falls away around you, finally freeing you from the trap. 

Still frightened and bewildered, you sit motionless on the ground, watching your breath come out in short ragged bursts of steam. Too scared to look up, you see the skeleton readjust his position in your peripheral vision. A shadow engulfs you as the skeleton kneels over you, and you look just in time to see his boney hand reaching towards you. You whimper as your hands instinctually fly up to protect your face. Strangely warm, hard bones grab your wrists in a vice-like grip and holds them together. His other hand busies itself untangling a length of rope. Carefully, he begins tying your wrists together.

“Wh-what are you doing? What are you going t-to do to me?”

He quickly finishes with your wrists and shifts positions to start tying your ankles. 

“we’ve caught wind of military plans to take back this area. gonna take you back to hq. Undyne might have some questions for ya.”

You feel your blood turn to ice in your veins. “You’re what? No, no please, you can’t do that!”

But he seems to ignore your pleas as he replaces the knife in your bag and slings it over his shoulder, berries and all. Next he grabs you by your upper arms, pulling you up to stand with him. Standing on solid ground, you finally get a chance to size him up. The top of your head just reaches his chest, and from so close he seems as broad as a barn.  
A genuinely sympathetic look crosses his face. “sorry sweetheart,” he says, then promptly throws you over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Your breath is knocked out of you as your stomach makes contact with his shoulder. The fluffy hood of his coat does little to pad his hard bones. He locks an arm in the crook of your knees to secure you, then turns around and starts walking back uphill. 

As you are carried farther and farther from home, from safety and your family, you seem to find your voice again. “W-wait! Please, please don’t do this! I swear, I’m not part of the army! I’m not a spy!”

But he simply keeps walking. “can’t be too sure nowadays. can’t afford to be lazy anymore, y’know?”

You begin to struggle, even though you know it’s useless against his apparent strength. You try to kick your bound legs, but his arm behind your knees doesn’t even budge. Yanking at the rope around your wrists proves useless too. Tears once again begin forming in your eyes. “Please! You can’t take me away, my family, they need me! They’ll starve without me!”

You feel his steps falter, only for a moment, then continue on without a word. You are crying now, desperate to reach this monster. You know there has to be some compassion somewhere in that skull of his. Despite how intimidating he can be, you can tell there is goodness inside of him. He hasn’t tried to hurt you or even threaten you. And anyone who would joke around like that has to have some sort of integrity, right? You brace your elbows against his back to prop yourself up as words begin spilling out of your mouth.

“I’m the only one who can go out and get them food. They’ll starve! There’s… there’s Ruby, she’s my oldest friend, but she can’t walk too well you see… And then there’s Emma and Lizzie, they’re both six years old, they’re so young… And Shiloh… Shiloh is fourteen, but he doesn’t really know what it’s like… he doesn’t know how heavy the burden is…”

“and why should i care about these humans?”

The cold apathy of his voice surprises you. The once jovial nature of his voice was gone, replaced by a bitter tone. Where had that come from? You are stunned silent as he continues trudging forward, through the now darkened forest. You aren’t sure if you are shivering because of the temperature, or because of the situation at hand.  
Why should he care about a handful of humans? What have humans ever done for him and his kind? Besides persecute them and try to trap them back inside a mountain. The more you think about it, the more you see his point. He has no reason to care about you or your family. You bow your head in resignation.

“You’re right…” you say quietly. “Why should you care about them… After what humans have done to you…”

You feel his footsteps begin to slow. But you continue.

“Humans have been awful to monsters, I know. I don’t deserve your kindness or your mercy… But please… my family doesn’t deserve this… They don’t deserve to suffer because of my mistake.”

He finally slows to a complete stop. He stands there in silence as you pull your elbows out from under you and collapse against his back. The weight of the day’s exertion seems to catch up with you at that moment, making you feel incredibly faint. Silent tears continue to fall on your cheeks. The skeleton seems to be lost in thought, considering what you just said. You wait almost passively, waiting for this monster you barely know to decide the fate of you and your family. You idly watch his ribcage slowly rise and fall through the fabric of his coat, matching your breathing to his. 

Abruptly, you feel his hands around your torso as he lifts you back over his shoulder. He sets you back down on your feet. You would have collapsed to the ground if it wasn’t for his hands still holding onto your waist. Wearily, you look up into his eyes, which are fixed on you. You simply stare back blankly, too tired to struggle. 

His eyes seem like they are staring straight through you. You feel like he knows every one of your secrets, every single good and bad thing you have ever done in your life, but you don’t care. You two hold this position for a long time, neither of you looking away from the other as the forest around you grows darker and darker. After what seems like an eternity, he lets out a heavy sigh. He suddenly looks incredibly haggard, like the weight of the world is on his shoulders. Hands still on your waist, he breaks away from your eyes to stare fixedly at your boots. 

“how do i know yer one of the good ones, kid? how do i know if yer tellin’ the truth? what if you go runnin’ back to the army, or…” He sighs once more. “everythin’ is permanent now…”

Suddenly, from far away downhill, you hear a voice calling your name. The skeleton’s head snaps up and looks in the direction of the shout. You stiffen, eyes going wide with fear. You recognize that voice. You would recognize Shiloh’s voice anywhere. 

“Yo! Where are you? I know you’re in here, Ruby said you were! Hello?!”

Your breath begins to quicken as panic rises in the back of your throat. Shiloh, you idiot! A monster might hear you yelling! In fact, THIS monster could hear you yelling. There was no way Shiloh was going to find you this far in the forest in the dark, but you anxiously wonder if the monster holding you captive is going to capture Shiloh too. You look back up at the skeleton, hoping beyond hope that he would not go investigate the shout. You don’t know what you would do if Shiloh was in monster hands. 

But you are surprised by the look on the skeleton’s face. It almost looks like he is relieved. 

“ruby, huh?” He shakes his head with that wide grin on his face. “and who is that yellin’?”

You gulp. “Sh-shiloh.”

The monster just closes his eyes and chuckles under his breath. “guess you were tellin’ the truth then.”

And with that, he starts to untie the rope around your wrists. You stand there, dumbstruck by the sudden change of events. You simply hold your hands out in front of you as the skeleton finishes untying them and then moves to untie your ankles. Is… is he letting you go? Just like that??

The monster straightens back up and shoves his hands back into his pockets when he is done untying your legs. You stare up at him, mouth slightly open in disbelief. 

“well… yer free to go. yer obviously not a threat, just some scrawny thief runnin’ around in the woods.”

You stare at him a moment longer, then glance in the direction of Shiloh’s voice. You look back up into the skeleton’s eyes, as if checking to see if he really means it. He only laughs and steps aside, moving out of your way. You take a few tentative steps past the skeleton, keeping your eyes on him. Once past him, you start backing away. The whole time he makes no move to stop you, only watching you with an amused look. Once satisfied that this is not some sick joke, you turn to leave.

“hey, thief.”

You once again freeze where you are, and slowly turn back to face him. He shrugs your bag off his shoulder and holds it out to you.

“don’t forget these. wouldn’t want this to be for nothin’.”

You relax a bit. You just forgot your bag. You make your way back to the skeleton and take your bag from his outstretched arm. You gently hug it to your body, the familiar fabric now stained by the berries inside. Looking back up at the monster, you can’t help but smile weakly at him.

“Th-thank you, sir.”

Now it’s his turn to look taken aback. But it isn’t long before his face returns to his usual amused demeanor. 

“name’s sans. sans the skeleton.”

You nod and sling your bag back over your shoulder. “Thank you, Sans.”

You turn away from the skeleton and start your journey back downhill. You make it about thirty yards before you stop and look back for Sans in the darkness. But he has disappeared into the night. It takes everything in you not to collapse right then and there. You hug onto a nearby tree and hang on for dear life. Did that really just happen? The encounter could not have been more than ten minutes long, but it felt like an eternity. You had run into a monster and lived to tell the tale. You lean your back against the tree and slide down into a sitting position. Hugging your knees to your chest, you place your head between them and take deep breaths. 

Many questions begin to crowd your mind, but they are interrupted by another one of Shiloh’s shouts. Your head shoots up, looking in the direction his voice came from. It was still far away downhill, and he is beginning to sound more worried each passing minute. You slowly pick yourself up off the ground and make your way towards him. After slowly making your way through the underbrush for some time, you finally break out from under the trees. You can hear him shouting somewhere in the darkness off to your left.  
You take a deep breath, and shout back, “Shiloh! I’m here!”

His shouting abruptly stops, and you can hear him making his way towards you. You finally make out his silhouette in the darkness as he comes closer and closer.  
“Shiloh, what are you doing out here?! You could have been- oof!”

You are cut off as he pulls you into a tight hug, desperately clinging to your skinny frame. Shocked, you automatically move to hug him back when he pulls away and grabs you by your shoulders. Looking into his dark brown eyes, you see a ferocity there that you’ve never seen before. But behind that ferocity is a look of fear that breaks your heart.  
“Where were you?! I’ve been shouting forever! I thought you were hurt, or dead! Or maybe a monster…” he trails off. You suddenly feel awful for the worry you caused Shiloh.  
“I’m so, so sorry, Shiloh… I got lost and…” You begin to apologize when you notice his eyes are focused on the bag by your side. 

“Is… is that…?” He can’t even seem to form his thought as he reaches for your bag and pulls it open further to look inside. Although a bit more squished than before, the bag is full of the ripe berries. Smiling, you reach into the bag and carefully pull out a heaping handful and hand them to Shiloh. He hesitates, then swiftly scarfs down the berries. For the first time that day, you feel the weight of your burdens swept away, filling your heart with happiness. And for the first time in a long time, you feel hope. 

“Come on, let’s get these back to Ruby and the girls,” you say, taking a step back towards town. You stumble and almost drop to your knees. In your happiness, you have once again forgotten how exhausted you are. 

“Whoa, whoa!” Shiloh catches you, and pulls one of your arms over his shoulders, his other arm moving around to grab your waist. Grateful, you lean most of your weight on Shiloh, and start walking once again. As you make your way back to your home and your family, you spare one last glance at the dark forest behind you. You aren’t sure if it’s the shadows of the trees or your exhaustion playing a trick on you, but you think you see the large silhouette of a certain grinning skeleton melt away into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank each and every person that has taken the time to read this. It may not seem like much to you, but it means the world to me. I haven't been feeling myself lately and my depression has been getting the best of me... but the kudos and the comments have brought me so much happiness! Thank you again. 
> 
> I do plan on continuing this story! I have a third chapter written that I am editing and I'm starting on the fourth. I'm kind of a slow writer because I'm new to this whole writing thing, but I'll do my best!


	3. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You decide to enter the forest again and befriend its guardian, Sans. Will he want to be friends with a human?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is a bit longer than the other two! But I REALLY didn't want to split it up in any way.  
> Also, nothing too exciting happens, but maybe you'll find it a little fluffy.

You decide not to tell anyone about your encounter with Sans. You caused everyone enough worry after you didn’t return from the forest last night. Ruby had not wanted to, but she decided to send Shiloh to look for you after the sun started to go down. Emma and Lizzie had gone to bed by that point, but you woke them when you returned home. You couldn’t help it, you wanted to share the day’s find with everyone! By the light of the fireplace, everyone sat around and laughed and ate their fill of berries. You couldn’t remember the last time you all had gone to bed warm and with full tummies. That night was the best rest you had gotten in a long time, with you sleeping late into the next day.   
You finally wake up, and judging by the angle of the light coming through the window, it’s probably about 11 o’clock. You stretch, and roll over in the king-size bed that you share with Ruby, not quite willing to fully open your eyes yet. 

“Ah, finally awake I see.” Ruby teases you as you hear the familiar rhythm of her knitting needles at work.

“Almost…” you say groggily, still refusing to open your eyes.

Ruby reaches over to pet your head lovingly. “Well, sleep all you want, sweetheart. You’ve earned it.”

Ruby has always used pet-names with you, but the word sweetheart makes your eyes fly open. You are suddenly reminded of the previous day’s events, as well as the giant skeleton Sans who was the last one to call you sweetheart. All of the questions that had tried to force their way into your brain yesterday return. You groan internally, longing to go back to sleep and not have to sort out your situation. You knew those berries would only last so long. If you’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that it takes quite a bit of food to keep a family of five fed. Which means you will be making another trip back into that forest soon, and most likely run into Sans again. 

Your thoughts are interrupted as Emma and Lizzie burst into the room. Before you even have a chance to look over, they leap onto the bed and onto you. You groan, and pull the pillow over your face to hide your smile.

“Ruby, Ruby, Ruby! Is she awake yet?!” you hear one of them cry.

Ruby can barely speak because she is laughing so hard. “Well I should certainly think so!”

“Yay!!! You’ve been asleep for-EVER, come on get up!” You can feel one of them bouncing of the bed next to you as the other pulls the pillow away, looking at your face. You see that it’s Lizzie and her face lights up as she sees you looking at her. Smiling mischievously, you grab her and pull her into a bear hug. 

“I don’t want to get up yet,” you say in a fake whiney voice. “I think I’m going to sleep ALLLLLLLL day.” You snuggle Lizzie to your chest like a teddy bear and pretend to go back to sleep.

“NOOOOO!” you hear her squeal. She struggles and pushes at your arms, but you hold on. 

“Let her go!” you hear Emma yell. That’s all the warning you get before she throws herself on you and her sister. 

“Okay, okay! Uncle!” You say while letting go of Lizzie. Both of them crawl off of you, giving you a chance to finally sit up. “Wow, I’m really awake now. You guys are better than coffee.”

Lizzie tilts her head as Emma asks, “What’s coffee?”

You try to think of a way to explain coffee and caffeine to them when Ruby cuts in.

“Alright you two. Where is Shiloh? He was supposed to be watching you while we slept in.”

The twins perk up, quickly forgetting their question. “He’s outside getting water from the spigot! He said we are dirty.”

You take your first good look at the twins. They are dirty, and it’s because of the black berries. Their hands are stained like yours, and they have dried berry juice all around their mouths. You start to wonder what you look like. 

You are snapped out of your reverie by Lizzie bouncing up and down on her knees. “Will you play with us outside?? Please please please please please!”

You try to hide the grimace that fights its way onto your face. While the berries definitely helped, you still feel weak and exhausted from yesterday. Not to mention sore from all the walking. Luckily, Ruby comes to your rescue again.

“Now girls, she has been working hard lately, she really needs a day off. Tell you what, you two go and get cleaned up and then we can color together, okay?”

That was a good enough answer for them. They both cheer as they leap off the bed and run back out of the room. You can hear them running down the stair case, even though you’ve lost count of how many times you’ve told them not to. You sigh and plop back down on the bed.

“Thank you, Ruby.”

“Of course, honey-bun. You deserve it.”

You both sit in a comfortable silence. Lying on your back, you stare at the weathered ceiling. With Emma and Lizzie gone, you have time to think again. You roll over onto your side to face Ruby.

“Ruby… How much of the berries do we have left?”

She sets the knitting needles down with a sigh. “About a quarter of the bag.”

You nod, expecting as much. Rolling onto your back again, you fold your arms behind your head as you become lost in thought. You all are very good about stretching out food to make it last, so that would be enough for today. That means you will need to go back to the forest tomorrow. The thought alone makes your pulse speed up. Last time had been a close call. You were almost taken prisoner, and were very close to never seeing your family again. You can feel the blood drain out of your face, and quickly roll over onto your other side so Ruby won’t notice. You try to think rationally in order to calm yourself down. 

The monster that caught you, Sans, wasn’t exactly mean. He had joked around, and didn’t once try to hurt you. He had even listened to reason and let you go. You feel your heart beat slow as you start to calm yourself down. You remember the look of sympathy on his face before he had thrown you over his shoulder. He didn’t even seem like he WANTED to take you in. But a shiver runs down your body as you remember another expression you had seen on his face. Those hallow, unseeing eyes over that spine-chilling grin. You are scared just thinking about it. It also makes you consider something else: You don’t know this monster. You spent all of ten minutes with him yesterday, and most of the time you were hanging from a tree in a net. There could be a whole different side of Sans that you don’t want to meet. What if he catches you again, and he’s not as kind this time?  
Okay, scratch that, then. You have to find a way back into that forest and to those blackberries without Sans catching you. Now that you know how to get to the berry patch by following the trail, you can get in and out of that place quickly. You just can’t get turned around this time.

But what if Sans is now expecting you to come back? You had told him yourself that you were taking the black berries back to your family. He isn’t stupid, as far as you could tell. He must know you have to go back. Plus, you all can’t survive on blackberries alone. You will need to find other sources of food, which meant exploring the forest and probably getting caught again. Sighing to yourself, you begin to rethink your plan. 

You try to think of other options besides the forest, towns that are farther away. But, physically, you are already stretched thin as it is, you might not make it in the state that you are in. And what if those towns have been picked clean too? No, the forest is the only option. You squeeze your eyes shut, already knowing what you have to do. You have to find Sans first. Maybe he could be an ally of sorts, you tell yourself. Or maybe even… a friend?

Your thoughts are interrupted once again by Emma and Lizzie coming back into the room. They are holding pieces of paper and some well-worn crayons, ready to color. You remember finding those crayons on a scavenging trip a few years back. Suddenly, as if a light turned on in your head, you have an idea. An idea that might help get you safely back into that forest. Sitting up once more, you tuck your legs under you to make room for the twins on the bed.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You wake up early the next morning, before anyone else. The only noise is the soft crackling of the dying fire. Carefully pulling back the covers so as not to wake up Ruby, you glance across the room at the other two beds. Shiloh is sprawled out on his twin bed, snoring softly. Suppressing a laugh, you look over at Emma and Lizzie in their queen-sized bed. They are both snuggled together in the middle of the mattress. You step lightly onto the frigid floor and quietly make your way out of the room.

Once in the hallway, you make your way past the stairs and into one of the unused bedrooms. The dusty room is empty except for the dresser and an old lamp, but you ignore them as you head straight for the closet. Opening the closet door, you stand on your tip toes and start feeling around on the top shelf. This is one of the only places in the house that the twins can’t reach, so you knew it would be safe there. You finally feel the shoe box, exactly where you left it a few months before. Smiling to yourself, you pull the box down and blow the dust off the top. 

You sit down in front of the closet, placing the box in your lap. You open the top and look down at the treasures below. Years ago, when you first started scavenging, you began finding all sorts of things left behind by the former towns’ people. Most of the things you found didn’t have any use or any value anymore, but you kept them anyway. It was sort of a collection that you kept just for fun. Rummaging around in the box, you start to look for something in particular. You shift through a deck of cards, some jewelry, a postcard, and a fountain pen before you finally find what you are looking for.

The three gold coins sit heavily in your hand as your finger traces the shield-shaped design stamped onto the front of the coin. Inside the shield near the bottom are three triangles, two pointing up and one pointing down. Above that is a circle with what appears to be wings on either side. It has to be Monster money. You found these lying on the ground one day when returning from a scavenging trip in the next town over. You don’t know how they got there or why, but you didn’t question it at the time. You happily picked them up, intending to add them to your collection. Lucky for you, these gold coins will actually come in handy today. 

You pocket the coins and place the lid back on the box. Placing the box back on the top shelf, you quietly make your way back to the bedroom. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Once again, you find yourself standing before the wall of trees that marks the beginning of Monster Territory. Taking a deep breath, you tighten your grip on the bag strap crossing your body. You can’t decide which is worse: Going into the unknown dangers of the forest like you did the day before last, or actively looking for it like you are today. At least it is much brighter this time since you got here earlier in the day. You reach into your bag once again to feel for the three coins. Sans had called you a ‘thief’ several times the other day. Even if it had been as a joke, you feel like he has a point. Trespassing in the forest and taking food is probably not a good way to make friends with monsters. Maybe these three Monster coins will be enough to reconcile any bad feelings between you and Sans. At least, you really hope so. You don’t have much else to offer. 

After hesitating a moment longer, you make your way into the trees. Stepping past the tree line is like stepping into another world. It is slightly darker underneath the canopy, and it is once again eerily silent. The only sound to be heard is you fighting your way through the underbrush. You feel uneasy making this much noise, but you remind yourself that you are trying to be found. You wrap your arms around yourself, rubbing them to try and generate some warmth. Glancing around, you try to decide the best way to do this. Clearing your throat, you cup your hands around your mouth.

“Hello!?” You yell uncertainly into the silence. “Uh… Sans?! Mr. Skeleton?!”

You shake your head. Mr. Skeleton? Really? You look back in the direction you came from. The place where you entered the forest is still visible. Turning back around, you peer uphill. Sans must be farther in. Pulling your vest more closely around you, you continue further into Monster Territory. 

After an hour of walking and shouting, you start to feel discouraged. There is no sign of Sans, or any other monster. He must have heard you by now! Maybe he isn’t patrolling today? Or is he ignoring you? That doesn’t make much sense though. You will just have to come back another day. A small part of you is relieved that you do not have to face Sans today. Shaking your head, you turn back around. If you can go back to where you started and find that trail again, you can at least go home with some berries. Starting back downhill, you stop when something catches your eye. There is something casting a large shadow behind a tree off to your left. Confused, you squint at it and walk a little closer. You slowly and quietly approach the tree, finally making your way around it to find what is casting the shadow. You gasp, and quickly slap a hand over your mouth.

Sat leaning up against the tree is Sans, fast asleep. Standing very still, you watch as his chest slowly rises and falls with each snore. His chin is resting on his chest, the fur of his jacket slightly hiding his face. You very slowly lower the hand from your mouth and lean in to get a closer look at the skeleton. You didn’t get a chance to study him the other day, what with it being dark and you busy hanging from a net. His hands are once again shoved in his pockets, but the sleeves of his jacket are pushed up to his elbows. You are fascinated as you look at the two bones of his forearm. They are much thicker than human bones, as far as you can tell. One of his bones seems to be as thick as your whole arm. Your eyes trail up to look at his elbow, curious as to how the bones stay together. Where ligaments and muscles would usually be in a human body, his bones are fused together. You idly wonder how that works. 

“Um... hello? Sans?” You try to softly wake him without touching him. The large skeleton makes no sign of hearing you. He doesn’t even stir as he continues to snore. You scoff. How did you ever get captured by this guy?

It is odd to see a skull with its “eyes” closed, but they look like they are covered by regular eyelids. They seem to be very thin pieces of bone, and as you stare, you can see the sunlight shining through its translucent surface. In silent awe, you look down to his nose and mouth. Well, his nose cavity and teeth. Even when he is asleep, his mouth is turned upwards into a peaceful grin. You smile too, almost as if you are returning the gesture. Seeing the once intimidating monster so peaceful puts you at ease. He’s not so bad up close. For the first time, you feel like you can do this. You can be friends with a monster – no - with Sans. Taking a deep breath and exhaling, you reach out to gently shake his shoulder.

Before you can touch him, one of Sans’ hands shoots out of his pocket and locks itself around your wrist. You gasp, instinctively jerking backwards away from Sans. But you are unable to go far as he tightens his grip harshly. You grit your teeth in pain and try to pry away his fingers with your other hand. But it doesn’t budge. Looking up into his eyes, you feel your heart drop into your stomach. Sans is looking at you with a single glowing, blue iris in his left eye socket. You freeze in place, fear once again taking over all your senses.  
You both hold this position for a heartbeat before a look of recognition appears on Sans’ face. The blue iris disappears from his eye and is replaced by the normal white pinpricks of light in both sockets. His grip loosens considerably, but he doesn’t let go of your wrist. 

“kid…? wha…what are ya doin’ here?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to…” You are fighting back panic as you try to tug your arm away. This was a bad idea. What were you thinking, befriending a monster you barely know? You curse yourself internally as you continue in vain to escape his grip.

“whoa whoa whoa, calm down. i’m not gonna hurt ya, okay?” Sans tries to calm you down as he easily holds on to your arm. “take deep breaths.”

You slowly stop your struggling and look Sans in the eyes. He takes in a deep breath and then waits for you to do the same. You take in a shuddering breath and exhale along with Sans. Surprisingly enough, it does help you feel better. Now the panic is replaced by embarrassment. You can feel heat rising in your cheeks as a blush spreads across your face. You look down at your shuffling feet, trying to hide your red cheeks from Sans.

“now, i’m gonna let go of ya, but ya have to promise not to run away.” 

Still staring intently at your shoes, you nod. Slowly, as if he thinks you might bolt, he lets go of your arm. You bring your arm close to your chest, gingerly rubbing your wrist where Sans squeezed it. Now free, you feel like running away for a completely different reason. You feel ridiculous for panicking like that, and now your whole plan seems silly.   
As you are lost in thought, Sans slowly stands up from his napping spot against the tree. He reaches his arms high above his head and stretches, towering over you. The pops and creaks from his bones brings your attention back to the monster in front of you. It was hard for you to forget how intimidatingly big Sans is, but you are reminded ten-fold as he stands before you. He’s nearly two-heads taller than you and more than twice as wide. It makes you extra thankful that Sans has shown no plan on hurting you intentionally. He looks down at you with half-lidded eyes as he shoves his hands back in his pockets.

“can’t go sneaking up on me like that, kid. Ya scared me right out of my skin.”

You stare up at him for a moment. There he goes again, joking around! He doesn’t seem the least bit concerned that a human is standing in front of him, deep in Monster territory. He doesn’t even seem to care that you are, in fact, human. Like he said last time, you obviously aren’t a threat. Maybe he is trying to make you feel better? You aren’t sure, but you feel like you should say something.

Laughing nervously, you rub the back of your head apologetically. “Heh, I’m sorry, that was rude… I shouldn’t have woken you up like that.”

He studies you for a moment before his grin grows even wider. “s’alright, i get it. ya just can’t keep yer hands off me.”

“What?! No! That’s not…” You stutter, your words tripping over themselves trying to get your explanation out. Before you finish stammering, Sans throws his skull back and lets out a belly laugh. 

“i’m just jokin’ around, kiddo.” He tapers off into a chuckle before looking you over again. “so, why are ya here? lookin’ to steal some more berries?”

You deflate slightly. You do not feel like you’re off to a smooth start with Sans. But you have gotten this far, you can’t stop now. You need this forest, and you need to befriend Sans to get to it. Thinking about your family fills you with determination as you straighten back up to stand as tall as possible and put on a smile. Even so, you have to crane your head back to look Sans in the face. 

“Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” You say while reaching behind you to pull your bag forward. “I want to thank you for letting me go the other day. You didn’t have to, but… you did anyway. Because of you, my family got something to eat. So…” You pull the three coins out of the bag. You examine them once more before holding them out to Sans. “I want to pay you for the berries.”

You watch his face as a series of emotions flashes across it. Sans does not move to take the gold, but simply stares at your hand. He is hard to read, but you think he looks surprised one moment, and sad the next. As you stare, you notice the edge of his grin twitching, like he’s unsure. You stand there with your hand outstretched, slightly confused. Did you do something wrong? Did you somehow insult him? You look down at your hand, and slowly start to withdraw it.

“I-I’m sorry, I know it’s not much, but…”

“actually,” Sans finally says, “a bag of blackberries costs four pieces of gold. but i’ll give ya a discount.” He closes his right eye, winking lazily at you. “since yer a new customer.”

You blink up at him. Then start to laugh. The tension in your body melts away with each chuckle, for which you are grateful. 

“Gee, thanks. That’s berry nice of you,” you tease as you once again offer the coins to Sans. 

Now it’s Sans’ turn to laugh. It’s a rumbling, infectious laugh, and you feel your smile growing wider as you watch his face. His deep chuckle rumbles in his chest as he reaches out to take the coins. You take the opportunity to study his hand. Just like his elbow, certain places are fused together, and the bones appear to be much more flexible than a human’s. 

“oh man, kid, that was awful. i love it.” He says as he wipes an imaginary tear from his eye. “it’s not often i find another pun connoisseur. paps doesn’t like ‘em very much.”

“Paps?”

“yeah, my bro. The Great and Magnificent Papyrus.”

You start to laugh again, but stop when Sans’ face shows no hint of sarcasm. Instead, his unfocused eyes are looking above and beyond you, a look of admiration on his face. Wow, he must really adore his brother!

“Is this the same brother that made the trap?” You ask, trying to keep the conversation going. The more you can get Sans to talk, the better you can get to know him. He seems like a really nice guy, and is one of the first people you have talked to outside of your family in a long time. Also, he is the first monster you have ever interacted with. You genuinely want to get to know him better. 

“heh, yep, that’s him.” He finally refocuses and looks back down at you with a crooked grin. “worked pretty well, didn’t it?”

You try to hold back a chagrined smile, but fail miserably. “Yeah, yeah it did! He must be pretty clever to have made something like that.” 

Sans doesn’t say anything, but instead breaks into the biggest and widest grin you have seen on him yet. You open your mouth to ask more about Papyrus, but that is the moment your stomach chooses to growl loudly. Your hands fly to your abdomen, as if you can somehow quiet the sound. It grumbles unhappily for a few seconds. You and your family finished off the last of the berries yesterday, leaving you with nothing to eat before your trek this morning. 

Blushing slightly, you look back up at Sans. His smile has dropped considerably, and his eye sockets are wide as he stares at your stomach. Slowly, he looks back to your face, his eyes concerned. 

“so, uh… you must be pretty hungry.” It’s not a question, but a statement. 

You nod, feeling self-conscious. “I’m used to it,” you joke, trying to laugh it off. But Sans’ skeptical stare makes your smile fade away. You look down at your feet. “Ever since the military evacuated the area all those years ago, there hasn’t been a lot of food around…”

“… and that’s why yer in the forest,” Sans mutters as he finishes your thought.

You nod again, glancing up at Sans. A silence falls over you two as he appears to be lost in thought. You fidget with the strap of your bag, unsure of what to say. The moment passes quickly when Sans starts to walk away unexpectedly. You stare after him, once again confused.

“Where… Where are you going?” you ask, a little hurt that he’s just walking away.

He continues walking, but looks back over his shoulder at you. “to get ya somethin’ to eat. ya comin’?”

Your eyes go wide and your mouth opens in surprise. Shocked, you just stand there, still mindlessly holding onto your bag strap. Then elation flies through you and sends you running after him. You finally catch up, but have to jog a little to keep pace with his long strides.

“But I don’t have any more money, I can’t pay you,” you admit, slightly out of breath.

“s’okay, it’s on me.” He glances down at you and slows down so you can match his pace. “figured maybe i owe ya for tryin’ to kidnap ya.” 

You gratefully match his slower speed. “Well, thank you! Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me. To my family.” 

“hey, it’s no chip on my shoulder. no need to butter me up, i can tell that trustin’ ya is no mis-steak. besides, yer so skinny, ya might pasta-way if i don’t feed ya.” 

You can’t help but laugh at the awful puns. You’re pleasantly surprised by how much you’re enjoying Sans’ presence. The forest doesn’t seem as dark or quiet as before. Even walking through the underbrush seems easier, but that may be because Sans’ large size is cutting a path through it with little difficulty.

“You’re a real pizza work, Sans.” 

Sans starts to laugh too, the deep chuckle seeming to vibrate the air between you. Your smile widens again. He’s a good audience. 

“good one, kid.” He peers down at you over the fur collar of his jacket. “honestly though, i know how hard it is to take care of a family by yerself.”

You’re surprised by the sudden seriousness of the conversation. You open your mouth to say something, but then decide to wait for Sans to continue. 

You both walk along in silence for a moment before Sans speaks up again. “so, tell me about this family yer always goin’ on about.”

“Oh!” You’re starting to get whip-lash from all the sudden changes in subject, but you let it go. You light up as you tell Sans about Ruby, Shiloh, Emma, and Lizzie. As you walk alongside Sans, you describe each of them in turn, a constant smile on your face. He listens good-naturedly, nodding along and laughing at the stories you tell of the twins’ antics. He finally interjects when you stop to take a breath.

“these girls sound like they have a lotta energy. like paps when he was young. or paps now.” He pauses and his brow bones pinch together as he frowns a bit. “so are they yer sisters? is ruby yer mom?”

“Oh, um…” You’re caught off-guard by the question. You avert your eyes and concentrate on watching where you are walking. “My mom died a long time ago… I don’t have any ‘family’ family.” 

Sans too averts his eyes and stares straight ahead. “i’m sorry to hear that.” After a moment of walking in silence, he finally speaks up. “didn’t mean to get jalapeno business.”

“It’s alright! I have my adopted family now!” You say with a laugh, though it is a little strained. You can hear the fakeness in your cheer, but Sans looks down at you with a warm smile that makes you feel better.

Finally, you both break through the underbrush into the familiar clearing and pause at the tree line. You blink a bit in the sunlight, taking in the bushes of black berries. You walk towards the nearest vine, looking back over your shoulder at Sans.

“Tell me more about Papyrus!” You shout, getting to work picking the ripe berries. 

Sans visibly brightens, then goes into a story about the Great and Magnificent Papyrus. You listen as you work, gently placing the berries in your trusty bag. You hardly have to say a word as Sans sits next to a tree and goes on and on about his brother. The admiration in Sans’ voice alone was enough to make you smile, but you can’t help laughing at some of the capers Papyrus has gotten into. Sans makes him sound like the absolute coolest, most caring monster in the world, and you believe him. 

Time goes by quickly, and the sun is directly overhead by the time you notice that your bag still isn’t full yet. You're starting to get frustrated. No matter how quickly you pick the berries, the bag doesn't seem to fill up. It's only about half way full now and you've been working for an hour. Confused, you check the bottom of your bag to see if there’s a hole in it. 

That’s when you hear Sans try to hold back a laugh. You look over at him sitting next to the tree. The first thing you notice is his left eye glowing. The second thing is the large quantity of berries he is levitating next to him. You are dumbfounded for a moment. Magic! He's using magic! But wait a minute... He has been taking the berries out of your bag this whole time!

You huff indignantly and put your hands on your hips. 

“Sans!” You say, but you are fighting the smile trying to work its way onto your face. 

“i was wonderin’ when you were gonna notice,” He says as he levitates them back over to you. You open your bag wide so he can put them back in. 

“What would Papyrus say?” You shake your head, trying to hide your smile. “I hope I can meet him someday.”

Something flashes across Sans’ face, but it is gone almost as quickly as it appeared and is replaced by his usual grin. You aren’t sure, but he almost looked hesitant, maybe even a little bit cautious. But he stands up and shrugs before you can say anything. Making his way over to you, he looks down into your full bag of berries. 

“lookin’ good, kid. But, uh…” he smirks. “do humans only eat berries?”

You perk up slightly. Hope blooms in your chest at the possibility of other foods.

“No, we don’t,” you say, glancing down into your bag. “But I don’t really know what else there is to eat out here.”

His smirk widens. “well, lucky for you, i know a reel-y good place to find some fish. the only catch is that it’s kinda far away, up in the mountains. but i know a shortcut.”

You smile and bounce up and down excitedly. “Yes! I haven’t had fish in so long!” You can’t believe how well this is going! You haven’t had to ask Sans for anything so far. He’s been so unbelievably helpful. It seems silly that you were ever scared of him. He’s just a kind, goofy skeleton.

“alright, alright, clam down,” he says with a smile. Suddenly, he looks like he remembers something and his smile drops slightly. “uh, about the shortcut…”

You tilt your head, listening patiently.

“we gotta teleport ta get there.” 

You quietly stare up at him, not quite comprehending what he just said. When he doesn’t continue with an explanation, you speak up.

“Teleport? You mean like… use magic?”

He snorts, but is watching you closely. “yeah, like, use magic. i dunno about you, but that’s how i always teleport.”

“Oh,” is all you can manage to say as it sinks in. “…but I don’t think I have any magic.”

Sans looks confused, then very politely tries to hold back his laughter. You blush as you wait for him to get a hold of himself. 

“no, ya don’t. not like mine anyways,” he explains, still chuckling a bit. “all ya gotta do is hold on to me, i’ll take care of the rest.”

You are reeling a little bit. Excited to see more magic, you make your way closer to him, tripping over your feet in anticipation. You stand by his side and reach out your arm to take his hand. Instead of taking your hand, he wraps an arm around your shoulders and pulls you close to his body. A little unsure, you grab onto his coat, feeling his thick ribcage just under the fabric. He’s a lot warmer than you thought he would be, and you melt into his side, greedily soaking up the heat. 

You hear his voice from up above you. “ya may wanna close yer eyes for this.”

You nod into his jacket, closing your eyes tightly. His grip tightens around your shoulders before you feel like your entire body is being sucked backwards through a straw. Your stomach does a flip as the sound and light outside your eyelids is ripped away. A crushing silence envelopes you, and it feels like the only thing in existence is you and Sans by your side. Before your mind can fully process what is happening, you are sucked back into light and sound. 

Your feet hit solid ground again, and you gasp in a deep breath you didn’t know you were holding. Eyes still closed, your hands have a death-grip on Sans’ jacket, which is good because your legs feel like Jell-O. Once you regain your senses, the first thing you notice is how much colder and thinner the air is.

“heh, first time’s always a lil’ rough.” His voice sounds a little worried as he shifts his arm to support you better. “but hey, we’re here.”

Slowly, you open your eyes and gaze at your new surroundings. You and Sans are no longer in the blackberry clearing, but standing by a pristine, mountain lake. The snow covered mountains loom all around you, not even the tall trees are able to hide them from so close. Speechless, you turn your eyes to the water. The small lake is frozen over, leaving a glassy surface. You shiver from wonder and from the cold. As you watch, you see large fish darting underneath the ice. 

“I-I see them! I see the fish!” Your teeth chatter together as you leave the warmth of Sans’ side to make your way to the edge of the pond. You stop when you reach the ice, not daring to walk out onto the surface. The ice looks thick, but you are not going to risk plunging into the frigid water. Puzzled, you turn back to Sans. “But, um… how do we get them?”

Sans pretends to crack his knuckles and roll his head from side to side as he makes his over to you. “let me take a stab at it.” 

You watch quietly as Sans studies the fish under the ice. For a long time, he just watches, as if memorizing their swimming patterns. Finally, Sans takes his left hand out of his pocket and holds it high in the air. Once again, his right eye-light disappears and his left one is replaced by the eerie blue iris. Three large, jagged bones materialize in the air above the pond, the sharp ends poised over the smooth surface. Without warning, Sans throws his hand downwards. The bones follow his movement, stabbing down through the ice and straight through three of the fish in the water below. You gasp and stumble backwards, not expecting the sudden display of magic. It had been so quick! In a matter of seconds, he had effortlessly summoned the bones and skewered the fish. 

Carefully, Sans pulls the bones with the fish out of the water. He levitates them over to the shore and quickly disperses them with a wave of his hand. The fish hit the ground, motionless. With his normal eye-lights returned and a smug smile on his face, he turns back to face you.

“that was pretty fin-tastic, if i do say so my-… kid?”

You have backed up away from Sans. You can feel the cold sweat on your forehead, and you know that you must look pretty pale. Sans looks worried, and carefully reaches a hand out towards you.

“i-i’m sorry, i didn’t mean to scare-”

“That was… AMAZING!” You burst out. You have never seen anything like that before! “Magic is so cool! Can all monsters do that?”

Sans is taken aback. He blinks, then heaves a deep sigh. He has on a big relieved smile. 

“yeah, but not exactly like that. it’s specific to who ya are.” He gestures to his self. “skeleton, so, bones.”

“Wow…” You stare at him in awe. A blue blush breaks out across his cheekbones, the same color as his magic eye. He reaches up and nervously scratches the back of his head while avoiding your eyes. You hold back a laugh. The big, scary skeleton is embarrassed! 

“so, uh… ya ready to head back? it’s almost time for my afternoon nap.”

You nod, and make your way back over to Sans. He carefully gathers up the fish in one arm and wraps his other one around you. Knowing the drill, you close your eyes. But instead of grabbing his coat this time, you hold onto his hand on your shoulder. He hesitates, then you feel his hand gently squeeze yours before you feel the familiar sensation of being sucked through a straw. It is much easier on your stomach this time since you know what to expect. Before you know it, your feet are back on solid ground, and the air around you is warmer. Still cold, but warmer. 

You open your eyes and see that instead of taking you back to the blackberry patch, Sans has teleported you both directly to the edge of the forest. You pull away from Sans’ side and reach back for the fish. You’re surprised to see that there is sweat beading on his forehead. Skeletons can sweat? Seeing you stare, Sans quickly wipes his forehead with the back of his sleeve before handing you the fish. 

“well, here we are.” He says, as he shoves his hands back into the pockets of his blue jacket. You nod, before taking stock of your bag full of blackberries and the fish in your arms. You pause, then look back up into Sans’ eyes, which are still watching you lazily.

“Thank you,” you say with all the sincerity you can muster. “Really, I can’t thank you enough. It’s hard to find enough food for my family, let alone me. I haven’t had help in a long time, and...” You look down at your feet. “And you helped me… even though I’m human.”

A heavy silence falls over you two. For some reason, you feel yourself fighting back tears. All of the exhaustion and feelings of hopelessness that you have been keeping at bay for years suddenly flood back into you. You quickly wipe your eyes, not wanting to cry in front of Sans. Snap out of it! You were fine a moment ago! Putting on a shaky smile, you look back up at Sans with watery eyes. 

“Just think, if humans and monsters would just talk to each other, we wouldn’t have this stupid war. I mean, look at us. We’re getting along… aren’t we?”

Sans’ face is unreadable as he studies you for a moment. He is once again giving you that piercing look, like he knows every single good and bad thing you’ve ever done in your life. The silence is killing you, and each passing second makes you feel more and more naïve for asking such a silly question. You know the answer to ending this war isn’t that simple. And why would a monster like Sans want to be friends with some scrawny human? You start to shrink in on yourself, feeling stupid. But finally, Sans smiles warmly, his eyes looking down at you admiringly. 

“yeah. yeah, we are.” 

You feel a warmth in your chest as happiness spreads through you. Letting out a breathy laugh, you quickly wipe at your eyes again. Sans softly chuckles too.

“So, uh… can I come back sometime?” You ask hopefully. 

Sans shrugs. “sure. it’s no skin off my nose,” he says with a crooked grin. 

You laugh again. “You don’t have a nose!” 

“heh, ya got me.” He shifts a little on his feet, like he’s uncomfortable. “but, ya know, if ya ever wanna come back just to talk or somethin’, that’s fine with me. Ya don’t hafta come back just when ya need food.”

You blush a little, hoping Sans will just think your cheeks are red from the cold. OhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygosh! Does this mean you two are… friends?

“I will.” You shuffle your feet. “I’ll try to come back tomorrow, if that works for you?”

Sans shrugs. “yeah sure, i’ll squeeze ya in between my nap and my break.” He winks down at you. “see ya tomorrow, kid.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow Sans!” 

And with that, you make your way past the tree line back into human territory. You feel jittery, and you aren’t sure if it’s from all the excitement of the day, or of the prospect of meeting Sans again tomorrow. You turn and glance back at the woods, but he has already vanished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading, you're the best!
> 
> There will be more to come, I have a lot more planned. Papyrus and other characters WILL show up in a couple chapters, I'm just trying to establish the relationship between the reader and Sans first.
> 
> Also, it will probably be awhile before the next chapter is up. I'm a very slow writer, and I also work 40+ hours a week, so your patience is appreciated!


	4. Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You go back to the forest to see Sans.

You come home to much cheering and celebrating. Everyone feasts on fish roasted over the fire place, but the berries are not eaten with as much enthusiasm. Even you are starting to get sick of the taste. 

With your stomachs’ full and satisfied, you and your family find yourselves curled up by the bedroom fireplace. You sit peacefully on the floor next to the bed, blankly watching the fire. Eyelids heavy, you glance over at Shiloh and the twins snuggled under a quilt on the end of Ruby’s bed. Emma and Lizzie are leaning on either side of the teenager, fast asleep. Smiling, you look up to Shiloh’s face and find that he is asleep too, chin resting on his chest. You finally look up to Ruby’s face, but are surprised to find that she is gazing at you from her usual spot on her bed.

“I’m so proud of you, sweet pea,” she says as she lovingly pets your hair. “You did really well today.”

You take hold of her hand and gently squeeze it. “Thank you Ruby, but…” you hesitate. “I didn’t do it alone.”

She looks confused, but patiently waits for you to continue. You sigh, and take one last look at the other three to make sure they are really asleep. Turning back to Ruby, you start to tell her everything in a hushed voice. You tell her about being caught by a skeleton monster named Sans, and how he made awful puns and jokes the entire time. You tell her how he listened to you and let you go, even after finding the combat knife in your bag. How you decided to try to befriend Sans and pay him back for the blackberries. That not only was he nice to you, but he voluntarily helped you find food. Finally, you tell her that you think maybe Sans is a friend. Ruby remained quiet throughout the entire story, not once interrupting you. She managed to keep her face blank the entire time you were talking, which left you feeling unsure when you finally stopped explaining your situation. 

You both sit in silence for a few minutes. You can tell she is thinking over everything you just told her. Ruby has never told you her opinion on monsters, and you start to worry that maybe she is upset with you. Or maybe she’s scared, or doesn’t know what to think. Finally, she looks you straight in the eye.

“You trust this monster? This… Sans?”

You’re confused by the question. Of all the things you just told her, that might cause her concern, she asks you this? But you take a moment to think about it, TRULY think about it. 

You nod, not breaking eye contact. “I do. I trust him.”

She studies you for a moment longer, then her face breaks into its usual charming smile.

“Okay, then I trust him too.”   
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you awake the next morning, you are not surprised to find that it has finally snowed. Everything outside is blanketed in a layer of white, and flakes are slowly fall from the sky. Winter has officially arrived. 

But that doesn’t mean you have to be happy about it. You pull your light brown jacket more closely around you as you trudge through the snow. You don’t have much in the way of winter coats, but at least your trusty goose-down vest keeps the important stuff warm. 

You finally make it to the now familiar forest. You pause, glancing over your shoulder furtively. Even though the military hasn’t been here in years, you still remember the harsh penalties they placed on anyone entering the forest. They had claimed it was for your protection, but you knew it was because they did not want people to be captured and potentially leak information to the monsters. As you suspected, there is not a soul in sight. Reassured, you duck into the trees. 

Thankfully, not as much of the snow has made it through the tree canopy, leaving the forest floor with only a dusting of snow. You have come a little later than you did yesterday in the hopes of catching Sans while he’s awake. No longer wary, you confidently make your way further into the woods.

Once satisfied that you have gone far enough in, you stop amid the trees. Taking a deep breath, you start to call out for Sans. The sound doesn’t even leave your lips before you hear a deep voice directly behind you. 

“sup.”

Jumping forward, you let out a startled scream. You spin around, hands clenched into fists. Standing exactly where you just came from is Sans, grinning like an idiot. The large skeleton doubles over laughing.

“oh man, you should see yer face.”

You huff indignantly. “Sans! Don’t DO that!” You place a hand on your chest, trying desperately to slow your heart beat before muttering to yourself. “How does someone so big move so quietly?”

Sans straightens back up and wiggles his fingers, left eye aglow. “magic.”

Finally, your mind makes the connection. He must have teleported behind you. You groan, eliciting another laugh from Sans. 

“That doesn’t seem fair,” you say, crossing your arms over your chest and pouting. 

“heh, okay, okay, ‘m sorry kid,” he says, putting his hands up in surrender. “promise i won’t do it again.”

You shake your head at him, but stop when you notice something different about him. There is a black strap running across the chest. Following the strap with your eyes, you see the edge of a bag peeking out from behind Sans. 

“What’s that?” you ask, pointing.

Sans looks down at his side, then chuckles. “guess the cat’s outta the bag, huh?”

He reaches behind his back and pulls an enormous duffle bag forward. You gawk at it as he pulls the strap over his head. This thing is HUGE! You are sure that you would easily be able to crawl inside of it and have room to spare. If it was empty, that is. As you watch, you notice that even Sans is having trouble lifting it for how heavy it is. Finally, after some struggling, he plops the bag down on the ground between you two with a loud “WHUMPF”. 

For a moment, you both just stand there. You look back and forth between the bag and Sans, waiting for him to say something. But all he does is stand there with a wide grin on his face, looking proud of himself. 

“So… what is it?” you finally ask.

“open it.” Sans says, watching you like a parent watching their kids open presents on Christmas morning.

Still a bit confused, you kneel down in the thin layer of snow that managed to make its way through the canopy. Reaching for the zipper, you unzip the entire top flap before flipping it open. You gasp, completely taken aback by the contents inside.

Inside the bag is an assortment of all the supplies you could ever need. The thing is stuffed to the brim with clothes, jackets, hats, gloves, socks, shoes of all sizes, blankets, matches, lighters, rope, soap, crayons, toys, books, and food! Oh, the food! Food of all kinds: Jerky, dried fruit, canned vegetables, cereals, oats, nuts, peanut butter, crackers, jams, jellies, and more. No wonder Sans was having trouble carrying it.

You sit back to rest on your feet, dumbfounded by it all. But you are still unsure; why is Sans showing you this?

“What is this for?” you ask, looking up at the giant figure standing before you. “Are you going somewhere?”

Sans rolls his eye lights and smacks a hand over his face, dragging it downwards. He finally looks at you again, his face somewhere between amused and exasperated. “it’s for you, numbskull.”

Shocked, your mouth falls open. Your gaze quickly snaps back down to the bag in front of you, then back up at Sans. You’re left speechless, and the stunned look on your face makes Sans chuckle.

“heh, uh, paps helped me pack it. told ‘em about ya last night, and yer family. here, he uh…” Sans kneels down on the other side of the bag and reaches inside, pulling out a tub of what looks like spaghetti and meatballs. “he made this for ya. said ‘any acquaintance of sans is an acquaintance of mine. and acquaintances of the great papyrus do not go hungry.’”

Still unable to speak, you numbly reach out and take the spaghetti from Sans. The still-warm tub is stuffed to overflowing with the noodles and sauce, and you wonder how on earth the lid is staying on. Or how Papyrus even got it on in the first place. 

“and these,” Sans says quickly, reaching in again and pulling out some action figures. The figures are old and you don’t recognize the characters, but you can tell they were well taken care of. “pap said he wanted the girls ta have ‘em.”

The figures look miniscule in Sans’ large hands as he sets them down on top of the bag. Everything he’s said slowly begins to sink in. You can almost hear the connections clicking together in your brain as you process the information. It’s… this is all for you! All the food, all the supplies… All for you!

“This… this is incredible!” You exclaim, finally finding your voice again. You hug Papyrus’ spaghetti to your chest with one hand and quickly begin digging through the bag with the other. “I won’t have to scavenge for food for… for months! And these clothes! Emma and Lizzie won’t have to wrap up in blankets anymore! Oh, and look! Books! Shiloh loves to read, he’s read all of our books three times over.”

You continue rambling as you dig through the treasures in the bag. The whole while, Sans just sits back and watches you with a content smile on his face. A quiet laugh escapes him every now and then. Your arms full of jackets, food, and books that you’ve pulled out, you finally stop and look back up at Sans, slightly out of breath.

“I… I don’t know what to say,” you manage to breathe out, coming down from your excitement. “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done, for all you’ve done for my family… for me.” You look down at the ground, avoiding eye contact. “I don’t think I can ever repay you for your help.”

Sans shrugs. “isn’t that what friends do? help each other?”

Your head snaps back up. Friends… Sans just said you are friends! Dropping your arm load of stuff, you launch yourself over the duffel bag and throw your arms around Sans’ neck, hugging him tightly. Sans goes rigid for a moment before wrapping his arms around your middle, returning the embrace with equal enthusiasm. You bury your head into the fluffy collar of his coat, fighting back tears of happiness. 

“Oh, thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!!!”

You feel his chuckle rumble through his chest before you hear it. “heh, yer welcome kid.”

Sans leans forward a bit to set you down. You suddenly realize that Sans was holding you up in his arms during the hug and begin to blush. You blush even harder when Sans practically sets you down in his lap, your legs straddling his thighbones. There is something incredibly intimate about your position, but you also feel like a child next to Sans’ wide ribcage. 

Embarrassed, you struggle to get up as quickly as possible, clumsily getting off of Sans’ lap. You finally get to a standing position and start to move away. Before you can even make it one step, you stumble over the duffel bag that is directly behind you. You fall over backwards with a small yelp, landing with your legs splayed out on top of the bag and your rump on the snow-covered ground. Dazed, you looked back up at Sans to see his arms out in a failed attempt to catch you. There is a beat of silence, then both of you are laughing your heads off.

After a good, long laugh, Sans leans forward to offer you his hand. “jeez kid, i just said we’re friends, and now yer fallin’ for me.”

Folding your legs under yourself, you take Sans’ outstretched hand. “Ha ha, that’s very humerus, Sans,” you say, imitating his lazy wink. 

His laughter renewed, he hauls himself to his feet before pulling you up as well. You take a moment to brush the snow off of your pants. 

“hey. why didn’t the skeleton go to the school dance?”

“Why?”

“’cause he had no body to go with.”

“Pfft!” You try to hold back your laughter, but you can’t deny your love for silly jokes. “Hey, knock knock.”

“who’s there?”

“Not the skeleton’s date!”

You and Sans start to trade jokes back and forth. After a while, you both decide to make yourselves comfortable on a fallen log nearby. You spend the afternoon there, laughing and enjoying each other’s company. You are swinging your legs back and forth above the ground, trying to think of another joke, when you notice Sans yawn. You pause, then glance upwards, trying to catch a glimpse of the sun through the trees and clouds. It is making its way back down to the horizon, signaling the approaching end of the day. 

“Well, I guess that’s my cue then,” you sigh, hopping off the log.

Sans stretches his arms high above his head. “yeah, sorry kid, looks like it’s quittin’ time. and i’m bone tired.” 

You smile and roll your eyes, then make your way over to the duffel bag. You eye it appraisingly, then grab one end and tug experimentally. You manage to drag it a few inches before Sans speaks up.

“alright, hold on, i’ll help ya.” He slowly stands up, the log creaking in protest. “pretty sure that thing weighs more than you.” 

You step back, gladly letting the much stronger skeleton take the bag. He lifts the strap back over his shoulders with a grunt. Sans turns back to you, nodding his head in the direction of human territory. You start walking side by side downhill. 

You walk in a comfortable silence for much of the walk home. But something is bothering you. A question has been eating away at the back of your mind since Sans called you a friend. No, since before that. Ever since you started this endeavor, ever since you decided to befriend Sans, an intrusive thought has been eating away at your self-esteem.

Why would Sans want to be friends with you?

You begin to nervously fiddle with your fingers as you glance up at the monster beside you. He doesn’t seem to notice your sudden discomfort, eye lights straight forward. You continue walking in silence, working up the courage to ask, thinking of the best way to word it. Does it even need to be asked? Your inner voice says no. But a louder, stronger curiosity says yes. Ask him why he let you go that day. Ask him why he helps you so much. Ask him why he even cares about a human. 

It’s not long before you are back at the tree line, and Sans sets the bag on the ground. He gazes beyond the border, then heaves a deep sigh. 

“this is as far as i go kid. can ya make it from here?” He finally looks back down at you. “what’s up with you? look like ya got somethin’ on yer mind.”

You startle a bit, but then again your face always betrays your emotions. Ruby says you are like an open book. You hunch your shoulders and focus your eyes on pile of snow off to your left. 

“I a-actually wanted to ask you something,” you admit, digging the toe of your boot into the dirt.

“ok.”

Taking a deep breath, you decide to just go for it. “Why are you friends with just some human?”

Sans frowns, or as much as his face will allow him. “just… some human?”

You pale a bit. Oh great, you didn’t word that very well. You are friends with Sans for all of one day before dumping your insecurities on him. You look everywhere but Sans’ face. 

“I… I just don’t understand,” you confess as you fiddle with a button on your jacket. “You’re a monster, so technically we’re enemies... but you keep being so nice to me, even though I’m just some human who keeps wandering into your woods. A-and I don’t mean to sound ungrateful! I don’t! I just don’t have anything to offer… So, I guess what I’m saying is… why would you waste your time on me?”

The last words leave your mouth in a rush before you think about what you’re saying, and oh how you wish you could take them back. You are mortified. You squeeze your eyes shut and shrink in on yourself, trying to make yourself as small as possible. 

Sans is quiet for a moment before grasping your shoulders, pulling you up from your slouch. You peek up at him through your hair as you anxiously wring your hands together. He is once again giving you that piercing look, and no matter how badly you want to, you can’t look away. 

“ya wanna know why i’m friends with ya? why i didn’t take ya prisoner even though we’re enemies?”

You pause, then nod weakly.

“ok, i’m gonna show ya.” He takes a deep breath, then lets it out slowly. “What i’mma ‘bout to do is kinda tricky.” Sans gently squeezes your shoulders. “do ya trust me?”

You are struck with a strong feeling of déjà vu, but push it down in favor of more pressing matters. Show you? What does he mean by show you? Curiosity once again winning over, you answer. “I do, I trust you.”

He nods, then closes his eyes. He places one hand on the small of your back and the other on your chest, effectively holding you in place. You squirm at the contact, not expecting him to be so touchy. 

“try not ta move,” is all he says before you feel like all the air is being sucked from your body. You feel something deep within your chest being called forward, into the palm Sans has placed on your chest. Still looking at his face, you fight every instinct to pull away, remembering Sans’ words to stay still. Suddenly, the space between you and Sans is lit up by a warm light. Sans begins to pull his hand away from your chest, and you gasp as you feel like your very core is being pulled away with it.

“this…” Sans says, opening his eyes, “is why i’m friends with ya.”

Feeling out of breath, you finally look down at Sans’ hand. Floating just above his palm is a golden heart. It is the most brilliant shade of gold you have ever seen, but the light coming off of it is soft and pulses like a heartbeat. You stare at it, fascinated. The surface of the heart looks solid and smooth, but beneath the surface the heart is full of a shimmering, glittering liquid that is perpetually swirling about. 

It is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen. 

Finally finding your voice, you whisper to Sans. “Wh… What is it?”

“ya don’t recognize it?” Sans chuckles, but keeps his hand as still as possible. “it’s yer soul.”

For the second time that day, your mouth falls open in shock and disbelief. Your soul? You didn’t know souls were a real thing. Not only that, but Sans is holding it in his HAND. A wave of fear washes over you, suddenly very aware of the amount of trust you put in Sans as he holds the very essence of your being. You quickly shove the feeling away, half because you know that you can trust Sans, and half so you don’t lose your cool. 

A cold wind blows through the forest at that moment, causing you to shiver violently as it passes over your soul. You begin to feel the effects of having your soul away from your body. You feel beyond empty inside, like you will never be warm again. 

“uh… you okay, kid?” Sans asks.

“U-um, c-could you p-put it back, p-please?” 

“oh! oh yeah, hold on…” Sans gently guides your soul back to your chest. Once it makes contact with your skin, it disappears. You take a shuddering gasp, once again feeling whole. 

“sorry, guess i shoulda warned ya.” Sans rubs the back of his head sheepishly.

Still catching your breath, your mind is reeling from what just happened. That was your SOUL. All that makes you… you. You would never have expected it look that… simple. But at the same time, mesmerizing. Finally, you speak up, your voice wavering.

“I d-don’t understand…”

“it’s just another power of mine,” Sans explains. “if i concentrate, i can see souls.” 

“No, no, I mean… what does my soul have to do with being my friend?”

“back when i was tryin’ ta take ya prisoner, i decided ta take a look at your soul after ya told me about yer family.” He suddenly looks very far away again, eye lights unfocused. “i’ve seen souls with gold embellishments, but never an entirely gold soul…”

You place a hand on your chest where your soul disappeared back into your body. “You’re friends with me… You let me go… because of my soul?”

“lemme explain.” Sans guides you to sit down on the duffel bag, then takes a step back. “ok, so everyone, monster and human, has a soul, but every human soul is different.” Sans has unconsciously begun to pace back and forth now. You swivel your head back and forth, following his movements. It’s the most animated you’ve ever seen him. “the predominant color of the soul defines the predominant characteristic of that human.”

You sit as still as possible, listening carefully. “What does gold mean?”

Sans stops his pacing, turning to face you. “gold means generosity, charitability, selflessness.” He pauses. “sacrifices made for others.”

You sit back, taking in all of the information. A few minutes ago, you didn’t even know souls existed. And now you are learning what the color of your soul means.

Sans interrupts your thoughts once again, continuing with his explanation. “so that’s why i’m friends with ya. ‘cause in a world like this, something like that,” he says, pointing to your chest. “has ta be protected.”

Amazed, you sit in silence once more. Suddenly, a thought interrupts your pondering. “Wait a minute…” You slowly get off the bag, standing again. “So that’s what you’re doing? When you stare so… intensely?”

Sans stills, looking confused and wary. “yeah?”

“Then you didn’t let me go because of my soul.” You murmur, hand still placed over your chest. Sans straightens up to his full height, his face becoming unreadable as you continue. “That night, you were looking at my soul, but then you said…” You watch Sans’ face carefully. “’How do I know you’re one of the good ones?’ You said…” You frown, trying to remember his cryptic words from that night. “You said, ‘everything is permanent now.’”

Sans stares down at you, his face blank. He closes his eyes, stuffing his hands in his pockets with a humorless laugh. “heh, ya have a good memory.” 

When he looks at you again, he has a dark look on his face that makes you shiver despite the cold. 

“don’t get me wrong, yer soul is a big part of it. it’s just…” He shakes his head then glances to the side sullenly. “the surface is very different from the underground, kid, ya wouldn’t understand.” 

The underground? Oh right, where the monsters lived for hundreds of years. Well, not lived so much as were imprisoned. Humans trapped them under that mountain ages ago, and now that they were finally free, they were facing imprisonment at the hands of humans once again. No wonder Sans was cautious about trusting you.

You suddenly feel guilty for ever bringing this up, for making him think about his former prison. You hesitate, then walk forward to close the distance between you and Sans. Placing a hand on his arm, you realize how tense he is. You look up into his face, smiling warmly.

“It’s okay, Sans, you don’t have to explain yourself if you don’t want to.” Sans looks at you out of the corner of his eye sockets, his head still turned away. “I understand why you wouldn’t immediately trust a human.”

Sans watches you closely for a moment, before relaxing. He once again closes his eyes and chuckles. He gazes at you appraisingly.

“ya know, you remind me a lot a’ them.”

Your eyebrows furrow together, confused. “Who?”

“of frisk.”

That’s right, if Sans remembers the underground then he must’ve known Frisk. You remember the few times you the saw them on T.V. as a kid, standing beside the gigantic goat king, Asgore. They had seemed so wise, so sure of them self, even for someone who was not much older than you at the time. And then that fateful day, the day that ignited the powder keg of tension between monsters and humans: Frisk’s death. It’s still unknown who is responsible. 

“yeah, that kid was special… they had a pure soul too. pure determination.” The way Sans says the word makes you think his definition of determination means more than your understanding of the word.

“guess they would be about yer age now,” Sans mutters. Then, so quietly you almost miss it, he says, “nine years and they still haven’t reset.”

Okay, now you are officially confused. 

But, as you expect, Sans doesn’t go on to explain himself. He turns to the duffel bag, “ya gonna be able ta get that home?”  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You finally make it to the front porch of the house after hauling the bag all the way from the forest. The snow made it easier to drag on the ground, but there’s no denying that it is still heavy. At the base of the steps, you call out for Shiloh, Emma, and Lizzie to come help you get the bag inside. 

Emma and Lizzie burst out of the front door, followed closely by Shiloh. 

“WOW! Is that for us??” Emma asks as Lizzie moves to unzip the bag.

“Hold on! Help me get it in the house first!” You say, playfully swatting them away. 

Shiloh is still standing on the porch, looking dumbfounded. “Where did you get that?”

“I’ll explain inside. C’mon, help me get it upstairs.”

With you and Shiloh pulling and the twins pushing, the four of you manage to get it all the way upstairs and into the bedroom. There, the unpacking begins. It really is like Christmas morning, seeing the excitement and joy on all of their faces as you pass out the clothes, food, and other supplies. Emma and Lizzie try on each of the coats in turn, even the ones way too big for them. Shiloh sits on the floor and flips through the books, delight in his every feature. You busy yourself showing Ruby all the different kinds of food.

“Oh, peanut butter! I haven’t had that in ages,” Ruby exclaims, happy tears brimming in her eyes. 

“This is amazing!” Shiloh says, finally turning away from the books. “Where did you find this?”

Sharing a knowing look with Ruby, you set down the peanut butter. “Well… you know how I went into the forest the other day?”

The twins come to sit on the edge of Ruby’s bed, listening eagerly.

“I, uh… ran into a monster while I was there.”

Lizzie gasps as Emma throws her hands over her mouth. 

“No, no! It’s okay! He’s a nice monster! We’re friends now, and, well…” You gesture to the scattered supplies. “He’s the one who gave me all of this.” 

Emma and Lizzie begin asking million questions, talking over one another. But they are interrupted by the loud thwack of a book being thrown across the room. Shocked, you all look at Shiloh, standing alone in the middle of the room. You have never seen him like this. His face is caught between fury and betrayal, and it is directed at you. 

“You… got all this… from a monster?” He says through clenched teeth, his hands curled into fists. 

The room is silent as you stand up, concerned. Ruby is the first to speak.

“Shiloh, what has gotten into…”

“A monster?! Like the ones we’re at war with?”

You put your hands up in front of you, placating. You had no idea Shiloh felt this strongly about monsters. But then again, you never bothered to ask. “It’s not like that, Shiloh. We can trust Sans.”

“Oh, we can? Why, because he’s ‘different’?” He sneers, using air quotes around the word different. “And how would you know?! You’ve known him for all of, what, three days now??”

That strikes a nerve, but you take a deep breath. “Sans IS different, Shiloh, and I…”

“Different from the monsters that attacked my village? Emma and Lizzie’s village?”

You stand there frozen, completely stupefied. You had somehow forgotten about Shiloh and the twins’ past. He never spoke about it, almost refusing to speak about it. You feel ashamed. Suddenly, you see in front of you the young boy you found all those years ago, desperately clutching on to two toddlers. You look down at Emma and Lizzie, but they are watching Shiloh with wide, shocked eyes. 

“Sans didn’t… He wouldn’t do that,” you whisper. 

Shiloh scoffs incredulously. “He wouldn’t, would he? Then where did he get all of this?” He exclaims, throwing his arms out wide to gesture around. “These aren’t monster supplies, they’re all human!!”

That last statement completely paralyzes you. You feel nothing, completely numb as you look away from Shiloh and at the items strewn across the room. He’s right. All of these things, the food brands, the clothing… they’re all human. Sans would have had to get them from humans… one way or another. Horrified, you look back to Shiloh. You start to shake, trying to think of a possible explanation. But you can’t think of one.

Shiloh shakes his head at you. “So what village do you think this ‘Sans’ had to tear apart to get all this?”

You suddenly feel sick to your stomach. You need to leave. You need to be anywhere but here. Stifling a sob, you run from the room. You hear Ruby calling after you just as you burst through the front door and run into the quickly fading evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no! A cliffhanger! I'm so sorry! But I will try to get the next chapter written as quickly as possible.
> 
> But hey! Looks like you have a heart of gold! (Ba dum tish)


	5. Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Running from the house after your fight with Shiloh, you decide to speak directly to Sans about the bag of supplies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING** There is attempted rape in this chapter! I did not want to tag it because I don't want it to define the entire story. BUT! I am marking that part with asterisk before and after so you can skip it if you want!

You absentmindedly walk through the snow, legs working automatically as they put distance between you and the house. You stumble several times in your daze, but you keep going. The cold air nips at your face and stings your lungs, but you hardly notice for the whirlwind of thoughts going through your head. You do not have an actual destination in mind, all you need is to get away, to think. Mostly you are trying to escape from the reality of your situation. 

The funny thing is, you are becoming less and less upset about the bag. Something in your gut tells you that there is a logical explanation for this. You may not know Sans very well, but you somehow know that he isn’t the type to go pillaging villages… right? Suddenly, you’re imagining Sans, right eye magically lit blue and gazing at you menacingly. You shake your head to rid yourself of that thought. One thing at a time.

Oddly enough, you find yourself more and more upset about the way Shiloh reacted. Of course, you’re ashamed for forgetting his past, for not considering how this would affect him and your family. But then again… Isn’t that all you ever do? Most of your life has been spent sacrificing for others, putting their needs before your own. For once in your life, you have been lent a helping hand, a respite. That duffel bag of supplies is a god-send, and Sans was the guardian angel that delivered it. You were elated, ecstatic to bring it all home and share it with your family. But it was promptly thrown back in your face. Before you fled the house, you had felt a small spark of anger and spite begin to burn in your chest. You didn’t know how to handle that, so you ran.

Your mind turns back to the bag and its human contents. Shiloh does have a point, though… Where did Sans get all those supplies? Monsters have no contact with the human world outside their borders. There is no trade, diplomacy, anything. The military makes sure of that. And Sans doesn’t SEEM like the kind of monster to go attacking people for supplies… But then again, he did recognize your army knife the first time he met you. Sans even said it had been used against him before. One way or another, he had come in contact with the army.

You finally slow to a stop on the outskirts of town. All of these emotions; anger, guilt for feeling anger, confusion, betrayal… they’re exhausting. You take deep breaths to calm yourself, concentrating on your breath steaming out in billowing clouds before you. At last, you are calm. But there is still one question that won’t leave you alone: How can you fix this? 

You need Sans. You can’t lose him as an ally, not when everything is finally coming together. But you have to convince Shiloh that Sans is not an enemy, that he can be trusted. If only Shiloh could talk to him… Wait, that’s it! Shiloh just needs to meet Sans! Then Sans can explain this whole mess himself! 

You hesitate. You still don’t know exactly HOW Sans got all the supplies… Maybe you should talk to him first. 

You shiver, finally noticing the cold, dry air. Wrapping your arms around yourself, you realize that you ran from the house with only your trusty goose-down vest for warmth. You huff. There is only one way to answer all these questions, to stop your racing thoughts. And you know just the monster to ask.

Looking towards the sky, you consider the sun’s position. It is late evening. Would Sans still be in the forest? You look in the direction of Monster territory, tapping your foot impatiently. Well, he was there the first time you met him a couple days ago, so he might be now. Besides, you don’t want to go home just yet. Fueled by determination, you strike out towards the woods.

Breaking through the underbrush, you make your way uphill into Monster territory. You are beginning to recognize some landmarks; a fallen log here, a trio of trees there. You noisily make your way further in. Once you are about a mile in, you stop. It is quite dark now, and you start to wonder if you should have started calling for Sans a while ago.   
“Sans!! Hey Sans, are you here? I need to ask you something!”

Almost instantly, you hear rustling off to your right and you’re startled by the noise. That was fast! You didn’t expect Sans to be so close by. Then again, he can teleport, you remind yourself. You wait patiently as you listen to the rustling come closer. As you listen, you become more and more unsettled. Something’s not right here… The rustling doesn’t sound like it’s coming from Sans’ bulk, but rather something smaller. Raising your arms up to hug yourself once more, you call out in a shaky voice.

“S-sans?”

Finally stepping into sight about ten feet away is not the large skeleton, but a man. 

You freeze, eyes wide with shock as you stare at him. He looks just as surprised to see you too. You didn’t even consider the possibility of someone else being in the forest. Is he another scavenger? Your eyes flicker down to his clothing, and you feel the last of the determined spark from before extinguish. His crisp, camouflage uniform and the rifle in his hands can only mean one thing: soldier. Stitched across the top left of his shirt is “Miller”, which you can only assume is his family name. 

Civilians are not supposed to cross into Monster territory. The military made that very clear years ago, laying out strict consequences for anyone caught trespassing. And here you are, caught red handed. This is not good, you find yourself thinking, this is so not good. The military hasn’t been in the area for years, why are they here now?! You don’t move or say a word as the soldier’s face changes from shock to dark amusement. He shoulders his rifle and takes a step forward.

“Well, well, well, would you look what we have here.” 

You flinch and take a step backward, away from him. You can’t let yourself get caught. Getting caught means questioning, and then jail for who knows how long. Once again you are faced with the possibility of never seeing your family again. You size up the soldier. He doesn’t look much older than you, maybe in his early twenties. He probably has a good fifty pounds on you and is most likely stronger, but maybe you’re faster. You gulp, steeling yourself for the escape you are about to make. He wouldn’t shoot you in the back… right?

Just as you take another step, you back right into someone else. You yelp and spin around, fists raised, only to find another soldier right behind you. You curse under your breath. Of course he isn’t alone! The new soldier is definitely the stronger of the two, if his wide chest and impressive arms tell you anything. He is dressed exactly the same as Miller, except his uniform is labeled “Simmons”. 

Spinning back around to face Miller, you are dismayed to find he is much closer than before. Trapped between the two soldiers, you can’t help but feel like you’re being corralled. 

“Now what is a pretty little thing like you doing in place like this?” Miller smirks. “Don’t you know that civilians aren’t allowed in Monster territory?”

You feel an uneasy shiver go up your spine. Why did he call you a “pretty little thing”? Fear begins clawing its way up your neck, making each breath come faster than the last. Panic is causing your mind to turn fuzzy and you find your mind blank. A voice in your head makes its way forward. ‘Lie’, it says. Raising your hands up defensively, you try your best to sound convincing.

“I-I got lost,” you stammer as Miller leers down at you. The way he is looking at you makes you feel nervous. You feel like you are being hunted. Like you are prey. 

“I d-didn’t mean to come in here, I was j-just trying to get home-“

“Then who were you calling out to before?” Miller countered. He holds an arm out and makes a big show of looking around. “No one else here.”

Your breathing becomes shallow as your mind races for an explanation. But you are unable to think as your brain all but shuts down. You are only aware of Simmons stepping closer behind you. You are left staring intently at the ground, suddenly very conscious of how alone you are. Suddenly very conscious that no one knows you are out here…

“Now, usually, we’d have to take you in, question you, detain you,” Miller explains. You lift your gaze to meet Miller’s, your frightened eyes meeting his cocky ones. “But…”

He reaches out to stroke your face, running the back of his hand down your cheek. You shudder, but otherwise do not move. “Maybe we can make a deal…”

***************************************

You stiffen at his words, not fully understanding what he means. But you understand one thing: they want more than to take you in, question you. They want to hurt you. Ruby vaguely explained the birds and the bees to you when you got old enough, but you would be lying if you said you had understood. She had only urged you to never be alone with strange men. That they may try to do something… Something unspeakable.

Panic rising once again, you spring back to life. Slapping his hand away from your face, you start screaming, yelling out.

“SANS! Anyone, help-!“

Before you can move, Simmons grabs you from behind, one hand slapping over your mouth and nose. You grab at his arms, unable to breath as he lifts you off the ground. You kick and thrash wildly, but it’s no use against the soldier’s strength. Just as you are lifted up, Simmons slams you back down again, throwing you on your back. Your head strikes the frozen ground, bouncing off of it harshly. Vision fading in and out, your body goes limp against your will. A ringing noise replaces all sounds as you are vaguely aware of your attackers moving about you. 

You feel your arms being lifted above your head and something heavy pinning them down painfully. You manage to loll your head upwards. Through the darkness invading your vision, you see Simmons kneeling on your arms. You want to say something to him, tell him to get off, but your tongue sits like lead in your mouth. You are distracted by something tugging at your vest insistently. Blinking slowly, you look forward again and you see Miller settled between your legs, trying and failing to unzip your vest in his haste.

“Ah, fuck it…” He mutters before ripping your vest open, ruining the zipper. Just as quickly, he rips open your flannel shirt, sending the buttons flying. The cold air hitting your exposed chest finally snaps you back to reality. You scream and struggle madly, fighting with every ounce of strength you have, but it’s no use. Simmons leans forward and covers your mouth once again. Miller forcefully pins your hips to the ground, then looks you in the eyes. 

“Hey, hey,” he simpers, running a hand up your side. “Behave, and you might actually enjoy this.”

All you can manage is to stare at him pleadingly. Being pinned is certainly scary and uncomfortable to say the least, but not knowing what exactly they are about to do is worse. All you feel is terror as you watch the soldier in front of you reach for your belt. 

Suddenly, the weight on your arms disappears and the hand over your mouth is ripped away. With your arms free, you quickly take the opportunity to cover yourself. Miller’s face has morphed into one of confusion and shock as he looks above and beyond you. You twist around to see what happened to Simmons, and gasp out loud.

*************************************************

Simmons has flown back about ten feet and is pinned against a tree by large, white bones that have sprouted out of the ground at an angle. Simmons is struggling against the bones, pushing with all his might. As you watch, a final, jagged bone shoots out and stops right at his throat. He holds as still as possible, eyeing the sharp bone that is centimeters from his neck. 

“What the hell?!” You turn your attention back to Miller, and feel your heart skip a beat as he reaches for his discarded rifle. Before he can touch it, he freezes, a blue glow engulfing his entire body. Only his eyes are moving, frantically rolling around in his head before he is yanked sideways. You shriek at the unexpected movement, nerves set on edge. Struggling to sit up, you anxiously look around for your former attacker. 

Miller is some feet away from you, dangling by his neck from Sans’ outstretched hand. Relief and gratitude floods through you as you see your rescuer. That relief is short lived as you spot the look on Sans’ face. You have never seen Sans angry before, and after this, you never want to see it again. 

He looks absolutely nightmarish. His distinctive grin is still on his face, but it is stretched far too wide, making him look maniacal. His right eye socket is a hollow, bottomless pit while his left iris is flashing furiously with blue magic. The magic is even escaping the confines of his socket and licking up the side of his skull like flames. Sweat is beading on Sans’ brow, but his apparent exertion doesn’t seem to be stopping him in any way. As you watch, he tightens his grip on the soldier’s neck, making you wince. You know firsthand how strong Sans’ grip can be. 

Sans lets out a mirthless laugh. “ya know, you disgust me.” Miller struggles against his grip, trying fruitlessly to pry Sans’ hand from his throat. “yer supposed to protect people like her, and instead, you attack her. it’s guys like you that started this war.”

He brings the soldier closer to his face, forcing him to look him in the eyes. “it’s guys like you, that should be burning in hell.” Sans raises his other hand, an attack materializing in the air just behind his shoulder.

You balk. Sans is going to kill him! You have to stop this, you can’t let this happen. Yes, you hate these soldiers for what they tried to do, but that doesn’t mean they have to die. You wouldn’t be able to live with yourself. Plus, the military does not need another reason to hate monsters. If these soldiers suddenly go missing while in Monster territory…

Struggling to stand, you use a nearby tree to pull yourself up. Finally on your feet, your knees wobble a bit, still a little weak from hitting your head. Vision swimming, you refocus back on Sans. Once again, you feel fear take over all of your senses as you gaze at the attack Sans has summoned.

Floating behind Sans is a hellish, animalistic skull. Its elongated snout is home to razor sharp teeth, and equally as sharp spines curve out from the back of its head. In its eye sockets are two glowing orbs of white light, not unlike Sans’, which are focused intently on the soldier. As you stare, it opens up its terrifying jaws, and you see that the bottom part is split in two, somehow making it even more nightmarish. White light begins to form in its mouth, shaping into a growing orb of concentrated magic. 

Time seems to stand still as Sans utters “gettttttt dunked on.”

You finally snap out of your fear induced haze and feel a surge of adrenaline. Rushing to Sans’ side, you tug on his jacket insistently to get his attention. 

“No Sans, don’t do this! Please!” You plead, desperate to get his attention. 

Sans’ furious gaze snaps down to you at his side. You freeze, unable to stop yourself from trembling at the terrifying look. It only takes Sans a moment to remember himself as he softens his expression. A look of confusion falls across his face. He lets go of the soldier, letting him fall to the ground in a gasping, coughing heap. But you notice that the floating skull is still there, ready to fire. Turning to face you, he says, “kid, wha… what are ya doin’? these guys attacked ya! they were gonna…”

“I know, I know!” You cry, still desperately clinging to Sans’ jacket. “But please, they’re not worth it!”

You stare up at Sans beseechingly. For a long moment, the only sounds to be heard are the soldier’s pained coughing and the hum of magic. Sans face stays remarkably blank as he searches yours. Out of the corner of your eyes, you see that the floating skull is studying you too, sending a shiver of fear up your spine. But you refuse to break eye contact with Sans, willing him to back down. Finally, he lets out a sigh and closes his eye sockets. He gently pries your fingers from his jacket and holds both of your hands in one of his. 

“alright kid… but only ‘cause you said so.”

And with that, the floating skull fades away in the darkness. You let out a breath of relief, thankful that Sans decided to spare them. 

“as for you…” He turns to the soldier at his feet, his eye lights disappearing. Miller cringes back, beyond terrified of Sans. “if i ever see you in this forest again, yer gonna have a bad time.”

Sans waves his hand through the air. Miller flinches and cowers, but all Sans does is release the other soldier pinned to the tree. 

“now get out.” 

Miller does not need any more of an invitation. He scrambles to his feet and bolts. Simmons runs too, not daring to look back. 

You stare after them, watching them disappear into the darkness. You stay like that, not really wanting to move, or think, or talk. Concentrating on your breathing, you try to process what just happened. It’s a significant amount of time before you realize Sans has been trying to speak to you. Blinking, you turn to look at him. He is down on one knee, looking up into your face. Even kneeling, he is only a little shorter than you.

“hey, ya with me?” Concern is written all over his face as he gentle squeezes your shoulders. 

“Y-yeah, sorry, I was just…” 

Returning to reality, a cold breeze tickles your stomach. You quickly reach down to button your shirt back up, praying Sans didn’t see anything. You feel for the buttons for a few moments, but come up empty handed. Looking down, you realize that the soldiers managed to rip most of the buttons off your shirt. The zipper on your vest is ruined as well.

The soldiers… Why did they do that? Why did they want to hurt you? It’s your fault for coming out here alone. Stupid, you’re so stupid… Why did you have to be so reckless? It’s sheer dumb luck that Sans came along when he did. What would have happened if he hadn’t…?

Still looking down, you notice that your hands are shaking. And pretty badly too. Must have been all that adrenaline from earlier. As if on cue, you feel it draining away, and with it, your strength. Suddenly feeling very faint, you sway on your feet before your knees give out. 

With a speed you didn’t know he was capable of, Sans catches you before you hit the ground. 

“whoa! you okay kid?”

All you can manage is a small whine. You try to find your voice, but it catches in your throat. You breathe in and hiccup, realizing that you are crying. The fear from before has finally caught up, and you can do nothing as it crashes down on you. You sob into Sans’ shoulder, desperately clinging to his jacket. 

“ah, c’mere…”

Bending over, Sans’ reaches behind your legs and scoops you off the ground. Cradling you against his chest, you feel Sans stand once again and walk a short distance to a tree. There, he sits down and leans against it, setting you down in his lap.

You pull your shirt and vest more closely around you before hugging your knees to your chest. Still unable to control your crying, you rock back and forth in Sans’ lap. He watches you for a moment, with a look on his face like he’s trying to make up his mind on something. He seems to decide quickly as he reaches for the zipper of his jacket, unzipping it fully. This is the first time you’ve seen Sans without his coat zipped up. You’re surprised to see a simple white t-shirt underneath, his collar bone just peeking out at the top. 

You are even more surprised when Sans pulls you closer to him, settling you against his chest. For a skeleton, his ribcage is unexpectedly soft, not at all the hard bones you expected. The area beneath his ribcage, where all the organs would be for a human, is not hollow like you thought it would be. It feels like you are leaning against a regular stomach, slightly squishy and warm. 

Before you have time to question how a skeleton has a stomach, you are distracted by Sans wrapping you up inside his jacket with him. He reaches down and zips it up, sealing you inside. It’s a snug fit, and the jacket softly but firmly holds you in place against Sans. The top of your head and eyes just peek out over the fluffy collar, but the rest of you is sufficiently shielded from view. And from the cold. The heat coming off Sans’ bones is heavenly, and after a few minutes in this position, you stop shaking altogether. 

But you cannot seem to control your crying. Even the reassuring murmuring of “yer okay” and “yer safe now” from Sans doesn’t seem to help. He eventually falls silent, resorting to hugging his arms around the outside of his jacket. Staring straight ahead, he seems at a loss for what to do. You sit like this for a long while before Sans speaks up.

“so, uh… i’m reading this book about anti-gravity. it’s impossible to put down.”

Confused, your eyebrows knit together. But otherwise you don’t move or speak. That doesn’t seem to discourage Sans though.

“did ya hear about the italian chef with a terminal illness? he pastaway.”

You snort, unable to resist the awful puns. Sans looks down at you in his jacket, and out of the corner of your eye you see his smile widen. 

“knock knock.”

A small smile plays on your lips, and you look up him with watery eyes.

“Who’s there?”

“interrupting owl.”

Your smile widens, already knowing where this joke is going. 

“Interrupting owl wh-?”

“hoo!” Sans shouts, getting closer to your face as he says it. You erupt into a fit of giggles, unable to resist the silly skeleton’s jokes. Sans leans back, a satisfied smile on his face. You reach up to wipe the leftover tears from your eyes, already feeling better.

“Thank you, Sans.”

He leans his head back against the tree. 

“anytime, kid.”

Laying your head against Sans’ chest, you feel your eyelids begin to grow heavy. The warmth from Sans and the gentle humming of magic beneath his ribcage is lulling you to sleep. Unable to fight it any longer, you close your eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really am sorry if this chapter offends or triggers anyone. It's kind of self-indulgent since I'm a fan of hurt and comfort elements in stories...  
> Anyway! I have finally moved and am all unpacked! Sorry this chapter took so long, I had trouble getting it started. Wasn't sure how the reader would react to Shiloh's accusation, but here we are!


	6. Reinforcements

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so so so sorry for how long this chapter took! It went through several rewrites. But here it is! Enjoy!

Your sleep is plagued by nightmares. Unwelcome dreams drift in and out of your consciousness all night, never truly waking you. The faces of the soldiers flash across your mind one moment, and the next your head is filled with the echoing sound of Sans’ deep voice. Frightening flashes of blue magic and bones cloud your mind before you slip back into your deep sleep. The last image you remember is the animalistic skull glaring menacingly at you before you slide back into darkness.

What seems like hours later, you begin to feel yourself very slowly wake up. You let out a whine, not wanting to come back to reality. You do not know how long you were asleep, but it was not long enough. Unable to fight it any longer, you open your eyes slowly. Blinking to clear away the bleariness, you take a moment to remember where you are. 

Trying to move, you find that you are still inside of Sans’ jacket. Looking up, you see that Sans is still asleep, breathing slowly with his chin tucked against his chest. You peek out over the fur of his collar. The forest is dark and quiet, only illuminated by the little amount of snow that made it through the canopy. You and Sans must not have been asleep for very long. Seeing the snow, you give a shiver. The jacket was still keeping you warm, but there is definitely not as much heat coming off of Sans as before. 

Looking up into his face again, you wiggle a little to get his attention.

“Sans…” Nothing. “Sans, I have to go home…”

Still no response. You forgot how deeply this bag of bones can sleep. You hook your finger over the top of the zipper and pull down, letting yourself out of the jacket. Leaving the warmth behind, you are now shivering in earnest. You suddenly remember your ruined shirt and vest. Blushing slightly, you pull them more closely around you. Lucky for you, there is one button left on your flannel shirt that keeps it mostly shut. 

You attempt to stand and immediately regret your decision. You make it to a bent over position before you fall back into Sans’ lap, clutching your head. A dizzy spell hits you as soon as you stand up, and now your head is pounding. You absentmindedly reach up to feel the back of your head. Did the soldier really throw you that hard? You let out a hiss of pain as you touch it. Guess he did.

You look back at the monster whose lap you are sitting in. You really need him to wake up. Your family has to be worried sick. You don’t know how long ago it was when you ran out of the house, but they must be anxious with you out after dark. 

“Hey lazybones, wake up.” You reach out and jostle him a bit. When he still doesn’t wake up, you push even harder. 

“Sans…?” His head sways back and forth as you push him. Now you are worried. You grab his skull in both your hands and pull his face up to look at you. His eyelids stay shut, but you notice that he is noticeably colder than before.

“Sans, this isn’t funny, please wake up!” Still nothing. You gently place his head back down to rest on his chest. Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. ‘What do I do?!’ You don’t know the first thing about Monster anatomy. You don’t even know where to check for a pulse on a skeleton! Should you go get help? But where do you go? The Monster settlement is miles away from here, and it’s not like anyone in your family will know what to do. 

Trying not to panic, you place your head in your hands. 

“Think, think, think!” You stare at the ground as you rock back and forth, desperately trying to organize your thoughts. It’s then that you notice a faint blue glow. Confused, you look up. The source of the faint light seems to be coming from under Sans t-shirt. You stare at it, not quite comprehending what you see.

Beneath the white fabric is an orb of light. It reminds you of something, but you can’t seem to process anything at the moment. Leaning forward, you grip the bottom hem of Sans t-shirt. You look back up at his face.

“Sorry, Sans.” You lift up his shirt. You don’t know what you were expecting to see, but you are surprised when you find that he really is nothing but a skeleton. Where his intestines should be is an empty void, allowing you to see all the way back to his spine. But didn’t you feel something like a stomach…? Concentrate! You have to help Sans! Pulling further, you find his ribcage. Just like the bones of his forearm, his ribs are incredibly thick and seem a lot sturdier than a regular human’s. 

But floating just behind his ribcage is a glowing, upside-down heart. It is pulsing weakly, like a heartbeat. You suddenly remember what it reminds you of. It looks exactly like your soul! This must be Sans’ soul! He must be alive then! You breathe a deep sigh of relief. Pulling the fabric of his t-shirt up further, you take a closer look.

It is just like your soul, but bigger and inverted. And blue. You think back on your soul, and the beautiful gold hue it has. What did Sans say again? Gold stood for charity, sacrifices made for others. You gaze at Sans’ soul again. What does blue stand for? You realize that the blue color is the exact color of Sans’ eye and magic. 

You frown, the color reminding you of last night when Sans saved you. He had been sweating awfully hard, and used a lot of magic against those soldiers. Maybe he just exerted himself too much. He probably just needs to sleep a little longer and regain some of his magic. 

You feel a pang of guilt. He wouldn’t be like this if it wasn’t for you. 

“I’m sorry Sans.” You whisper as you pull his shirt back down. “I’m sorry, this is all my fault.” 

You zip his jacket back up for him, hiding the light from his soul. You remove yourself from his lap and make yourself cozy on the ground next to him. You are going to sit here and watch over Sans until he wakes up. It’s your fault he’s like this anyway, so it’s only right. Your family will just have to wait. Plus, he would probably be worried if he woke up and you were gone. 

Doing your best to ignore the cold, you rest your head in your hand as you idly draw little designs in the dirt with the other. Time seems to pass slowly, and it’s not long before you start to feel your eyelids grow heavy. You rest your eyes for moment. What could it hurt anyway?

You are awakened by the sound of a branch breaking. You sit bolt upright, suddenly very alert. Sans is exactly where you left him, softly dozing. Looking around, you hear another snap, and then the rustling of underbrush. The sounds seem to be coming right for you, and closing in. Your breath starts to quicken and your pulse picks up. 

The soldiers. They must have sent reinforcements! Stupid, how could you not have thought about that before?! You duck down as you see a beam of light off to your right. 

They are searching for you. 

You’re a wanted criminal now. Those soldiers from before saw you with Sans, a monster. If they find you, you’re not sure what they’ll do to you. Senses on high alert, you silently crawl over to Sans. Taking a hold of his fur collar, you shake him again, desperately trying to wake him.

“Sans!” You hiss at him in a whisper, “Sans, please wake up! We have to go!” But Sans doesn’t wake.

You see more lights now, searching methodically through the forest. They are slowly but surely getting closer. It won’t be long before they will find you. 

You look back at Sans. He’s defenseless right now, and there is no way you can protect him. Unless…

You take note of where the soldiers are. There seem to be eight of them total, all fairly close to each other. If you took off back towards Human territory, you could lead them away from Sans. You just hope that once they catch you, they won’t continue looking for him. 

Your mind goes to your family. You freeze, suddenly questioning everything. Those soldiers catch you and you will never see them again. Emma, Lizzie, Ruby, Shiloh. You desperately think of other ways, different options you might have. But even if you left Sans defenseless and could somehow escape these soldiers, you couldn’t go back to your family. They can’t even be associated with you now, or else… 

Well, that’s what you’re all about, right? Making sacrifices for others?

Fighting back tears, you look back down at Sans. He looks so peaceful in his sleep, his characteristic grin still in place. You slowly stand up. Ignoring the pain in your head, you bend over and lightly kiss him on the forehead.

“Goodbye Sans.”

Before you can talk yourself out of it, you take off. You cut a path diagonally across the soldier’s line of sight, hoping they will follow you away from Sans. It isn’t long before you hear a shout. Followed by more shouts. The beams of light flash across your body before finally honing in on you. You’ve been spotted. You keep running, darting through the trees as you try to put as much distance between you and Sans. You hear the soldiers breaking through the underbrush behind you, ordering you to stop. But you don’t dare look back. Your heart is in your throat as you pump your legs as fast as you can. But it isn’t fast enough. You are soon tackled from behind. 

You hit the ground hard, breath knocked out of you as your attacker lands on top of you. You are sure you hear something snap, which is soon followed by a stabbing pain in your side. You must have broken a rib. Coughing hard, you are given no time to recover before you are flipped over and pinned. You try to look up into the face of your captor, but it is hidden in shadow as the other soldiers catch up and shine their flashlights at you. You suddenly forget all about the pain of your ribs as the soldier pinning you presses their forearm across your neck, making it very difficult to breathe. Your hands fly up to try and push them away, but it’s no use against their strength. 

“Enough, Simmons!” Someone above you shouts. You feel a thrill of fear in your gut. Simmons. You know that name. Looking back up into your captors face, you finally get a glimpse of the furious face of one of the soldiers that attacked you the evening before. 

He smirks down at you. “Because of your monster friend, my buddy Miller is in the med unit with a breathing tube down his throat.” Simmons presses down harder, fully cutting off your air. You start to panic, and push harder against the arm on your throat. “Where’s your friend now?!”

“I said enough, Simmons!” Someone pulls Simmons off of you. Finally free, you roll onto your side, desperately trying to get air in between hacking coughs. The coughing causes the pain from your broken rib to return ten-fold. You finally get control of your breathing again, sobs escaping your mouth sporadically. 

You are roughly pulled to your feet. Once standing, a light is pointed directly in your face, preventing you from seeing any of the soldiers around you. You blink hard, the light hurting your eyes. 

“Where is the monster?” Someone demands. 

Heart beating painfully fast, you take a moment to try and look around. Six, Seven… Eight beams of light. Thank god, all of the soldiers are here. They are preoccupied with you and not off looking for Sans. You do not get to feel relief for long before someone pulls back sharply on your hair. You let out a pained scream, head pulled back to look up into the face of a soldier. 

“I asked you a question, civilian! Where is the monster?!”

You bite back tears. Why? Why do they have to hurt you like this? All of this, this whole situation is because of this meaningless war between monsters and humans. And now it has led to humans hurting humans. You suddenly realize something in a moment of clarity: You’re the enemy now. It doesn’t matter that you are one of them, that you are human. They don’t have to be gentle. Because this area was placed under martial law long ago, the military is the law of the land. Defying them is high treason. But now, you have nothing else to lose. 

You swallow hard. “He’s not here. He left.”

The soldier holding you squints his eyes. He is older, maybe in his late 30s. You stare back at him, making your eyes as blank as possible. You pray that he does not notice your knees shaking.

“Fine, have it your way. We’ll get the information we want.” He lets go of your hair. Your hands are pulled harshly behind your back. You look behind you to see the another soldier pulling out a piece of reinforced zip tie, preparing to tie your hands together. Your heart skips a beat in fear, and you fail to stop yourself from trembling. 

“Civilian, you are under arrest for fraternizing with the enemy, the possible exchange of information with the enemy, defying direct orders…” 

You bow your head as he lists off your supposed crimes. You fight back tears as you think of your family. ‘I’m sorry Emma, Lizzie. I’m so sorry, Ruby. Forgive me, Shiloh…’

“Trespassing into enemy territory, the assault of an enlisted army private…”

“no, that last one was me.”

You gasp as you hear a familiar deep voice. The soldiers scatter, including the one about to bind your hands. They make a hasty retreat, forming a semi-circle around you at a safe distance. 

Slowly, you turn to look above and behind you. Sure enough, Sans is standing right behind you. He looks down at you with a tired smile before pulling you into his side. 

“No!” You struggle weakly, pushing against Sans. “You can’t be here, you have to get away…”

Sans only chuckles and holds you tighter against him. 

“there’s that heart of gold.” He says as he playfully taps you on the chin. 

“Be careful! This monster has magic that can-“

Before he can finish, Simmons freezes, engulfed in a blue glow. Before anyone can move, he goes flying, striking a tree. He hits the ground, unconscious. All of the soldiers only stare, dumbfounded.

Stunned, you look back up at Sans. He has his hand stretched out in front of him, and he has sweat beginning to bead on his skull.

“that. this monster can do that.”

Breaking out of their daze, the soldiers all point their flashlights at Sans. They order him to get down on the ground, but he ignores them. It is at this moment that you realize their flashlights are mounted on the end of their rifles. Panicking, you wrench yourself out of Sans grip, ignoring the pain in your ribs. You throw yourself in front of him, as if your small frame could somehow shield the giant skeleton. 

“Please, don’t shoot!” You yell, arms in the air. 

But none of the soldiers give any indication that they heard you. The older soldier can be heard above the rest.

“Fire on my command!”

“No, please, don’t do this-!”

“Ready!”

“Don’t shoot!”

“Aim!”

“they never listen.”

Sans grabs you from behind and locks his arms around your torso. You feel the familiar sensation of being teleported, but this time your eyes are open. Blackness seems to close in from the edges of your vision, shrinking your field of view. You hear the older soldier yell “Fire” as well as see the bursts of light from their guns, but it’s too late. The blackness surrounds you, shutting out the world where you were. 

Nothing. No sound or light. Not even pain. Then suddenly the darkness opens up, letting you back out into the world. You gasp, breathing in a lungful of cold, dry air. You are by the frozen lake, high in the mountains. 

Sans doesn’t move, just hugs you to his chest. You both hold this position for a long time, neither of you seeming to want to move. You stare off into the distance, tears silently streaming down your face. 

“Sans…” you whisper weakly. “…What am I going to do?”

You have just lost everything. Your home, your way of life, your species… But most importantly, your family. There is no way you are ever going to see them again. Not if you don’t want to be captured, questioned, and imprisoned by the army. Or not if you don’t want them to get in trouble just by being associated with you. 

Sans very slowly lets you go. Your legs no longer wanting to support you, you sink down to your knees. It’s then that you finally release the floodgates. Your head falls back as you wail, letting all of your sorrow out. Sans watches you silently, letting you mourn in peace. 

Finally, you have no more tears to cry. Sniffling, you look back at Sans standing over you. He kneels down behind you, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder. 

“I have nowhere to go, Sans…” You whimper. “I can’t go back home. And monsters won’t want me.”

“that’s not true.” Sans says, watching you with gentle eyes. 

You turn to face him. “I told you, I’m just some human! And after what humans have done to monsters…”

“well, after what you’ve done for me…” He smiles down at you warmly, eyes regarding you fondly. “i’d be happy to have ya.”

You stare up at him, dumbfounded. Did he just…?

“and i know for a fact that paps would love ta have ya around.” He winks at you lazily. “he loves new friends.”

You sniffle again, feeling fresh tears forming. But this time, they are happy tears. 

“so whaddya say?” He asks, standing up again. He offers you his hand. “come stay with me?”

You stare at his hand, stunned. Sans is offering you to come live with him. The thought of living among monsters scares you. What if they hate you for being human? But… if they anything like Sans, then you’ll be okay. And Sans is the closest thing you have to family right now. Smiling up at him, you move for his hand, reaching for the unknown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! We're finally going to meet other monsters! Like Papyrus! He's my favorite. 
> 
> I don't know if you guys are interested, but I wanted to put some art up that are personal head canons! Of course, if you have your own, don't let me ruin them!  
> None of this art is by me, and they should be linked back to the original artist that drew them. 
> 
> Sans:  
> http://binnece.tumblr.com/post/154800085608  
> http://paurachan.tumblr.com/post/153032979191/im-glad-you-came-yup-this-gif-is-inspired-by  
> http://acxthxticart.tumblr.com/post/154221850115/a-sans-and-a-smoller-pagedoll-sans-for-my
> 
> Gaster Blaster:  
> http://wilyart.tumblr.com/post/134169686530/it-was-just-a-nightmare
> 
> Size Difference?: Idk, the last two panels of this comic with Human!Gaster and Gerson are pretty close the size difference between you and Sans. Except Gerson's arms make him much wider... Focus on the chest!  
> https://kaleidraws.tumblr.com/post/146366097870/seems-very-interesting-part-27-previous-next
> 
>  
> 
> I'll post more of these the more I introduce characters!


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